Ratings Roundup: 2018 MLB Postseason Sees Low Numbers in NLDS; NFL Ratings Continue to Rise By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor
Wednesday, October 10, 2018 - 10:00 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the 2018 MLB Postseason is through the Wildcard and Divison Series, NFL overall ratings continue to rise, college football reaches the halfway point, ESPN and RSN's compile final ratings for regular season baseball, NBC Sports Network is on pace to create network history, viewership of all programs on MLB Network increased in 2018, and ESPN reports their September numbers.
2018 MLB Postseason At This Moment
The MLB Postseason is underway with the completion of both Wildcard games and Division Series. TBS's exclusive coverage of the 2018 American League Wild Card presented by Hankook Tire - the Oakland Athletics vs. New York Yankees (8-11:30 p.m. ET) - led the network to win the night across all of cable television, based on overnight delivery. The live game telecast peaked with an average of 7.5 million total viewers from 9:15-9:30 p.m. ET, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals, and delivered significant audience growth across all platforms.
Wednesday night's A.L. Wild Card game telecast garnered an average minute audience of 6.4 million viewers across all platforms, an increase of 51% over the 2016 A.L. Wild Card game on TBS and a 45% gain when compared to last year's N.L. Wild Card game on the network.
Additional highlights include:
Wednesday night's Yankees/Athletics telecast on TBS is up double digits across all key demos, including a 37% increase in People 18-49 and 32% in Men 18-34 over the network's A.L. Wild Card telecast in 2016.
Turner's TV Everywhere platforms generated over nine million total streaming minutes, a 120% increase compared to the 2016 A.L. Wild Card Game on TBS.
The 2018 A.L. Wild Card Game generated over 11 million Twitter impressions on Bleacher Report's MLB handle, a 13% increase over last year's comparable Wild Card.
The Bay Area posted an 8.9 overnight rating, the best on record for an A's game telecast on any network since 2014
According to SportsMediaWatch, Game 1 of the Brewers-Rockies NLDS matchup on Thursday, October 4 earned a 1.6 rating and 2.46 million viewers on FS1, up 24% in viewership from the same window on MLB Network last year (Red Sox-Astros: n/a, 1.99M) and up 23% and 32% respectively from 2016 on TBS (Blue Jays-Rangers: 1.3, 1.86M). Fs1's Game 2 reached a 1.1 rating with 1.77 million viewers. According to Cynopsis Sports, the series-clinching game on Sunday on MLB Network drew an average of two million viewers, to rank as the channel's fourth-best MLB game telecast ever(Cynopsis Sports)
In the other NLDS, Game 1 of Dodgers-Braves drew a 1.3 and 2.1 million on MLB Network - down 43% in ratings and 44% in viewership from last year's aforementioned Yankees-Indians game and down 55% in both measures from 2016 on TBS (Red Sox-Indians: 2.9, 4.67M). The Dodgers win delivered the third-largest Major League Baseball audience ever on MLB Network, trailing last year's Yankees-Indians Game 2 (3.20M) and Game 2 of Giants-Cubs in 2016 (4.61M) (SMW). Game 2 on FS1 had a 1.2 rating and 2.03 million viewers (-31%). Sunday night's Game 3 increased slightly - with a 1.8 rating and 3.02 million viewers on FS1, down 40% in ratings and 43% in viewership from Indians-Yankees in the same window last year (3.0, 5.29M) but up 38% and 42% respectively from 2016 (Rangers-Blue Jays: 1.4, 2.37M). The game that saw the Dodgers return to the NLCS had 2.17 million on FS1 - down 23% from Nationals-Cubs Game 3 on TBS last year (2.83M) but up 42% from Nationals-Dodgers Game 3 on MLB Network in 2016 (1.53M) (SMW)
In the American League, Game 1 of Indians-Astros had 1.91 million on TBS, up 17% from last year (Red Sox-Astros: 1.63M) and up 19% from 2016 (Blue Jays-Rangers: 1.61M). Game 2 had a 1.6 (-24%) and 2.50 million (-29%). As for Game 2, the telecast reached a 1.6 (-24%) with 2.50 million spectators (-29%). The defending World Series champions advanced in Game 3 on Monday afternoon in front of a television audience of 1.92 million on TBS, down 18% from Astros-Red Sox Game 4 last year (2.83M) (SMW)
In the final Division Series, Yankees-Red Sox Game 1 earned a 3.35 rating and 5.57 million viewers on TBS, up 59% in viewership from last year (Cubs-Nationals: n/a, 3.50M) and up 158% and 152% respectively from 2016 on FS1 (Dodgers-Nationals: 1.3, 2.21M). The second game of the series on Saturday night had a 3.0 and 5.06 million - up 82% in ratings and 80% in viewership from last year (D'Backs-Dodgers: 1.65, 2.81M) and up 19% and 10% respectively from Giants-Cubs on MLB Network in 2016 (2.5, 4.61M) (SMW). A lopsided Game 3 in favor of Boston earned 4.41 million viewers on TBS, down 2% from Indians-Yankees Game 4 on FS1 last year (4.49M) but up 9% from Indians-Red Sox on TBS in 2016 (4.03M). Due to the score, it was the first game of the series to decline in comparison to last year's window with a 17% drop. Last night's series-clinching ALDS Game 4 on TBS was the most-viewed LDS Game 4 on the network since 2007, with an average of 7.1 million viewers, and ranked as the top program of the night across all of cable television. The telecast peaked with an average of 8.5 million viewers from 11:15-11:30 p.m. ET. Locally, the ALDS Game 4 telecast generated a 23.9 HH rating in Boston, the highest-rated LDS game on any network in the market since 2008.
Week 5 of NFL Action
The Monday Night Football matchup - which featured New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees breaking Peyton Manning's all-time NFL passing yards record in a 43-19
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
03/06/2026
iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...
03/06/2026
The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...
03/06/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...
03/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...
03/06/2026
Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...
03/06/2026
According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...
03/06/2026
Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca.
By Jessica Herndon
This year, the Tribeca...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
Ratings Roundup: 2018 MLB Postseason Sees Low Numbers in NLDS; NFL Ratings Continue to Rise By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor 
