World Series Ratings

sellin71 · 10-28-2006, 09:52 AM

Well they said that this World Series had the lowest television ratings ever. Here is a list of the others. Back in '82 when St Louis beat Milwaukee, almost half of the country watched. I think it is more of a trend to less viewership of baseball in general, not necessarily the teams involved. People have so many more choices on how to entertain themselves today.

NEW YORK -- Yearly national ratings for the World Series, as
compiled by Nielsen Media Research. The rating is the percentage of
households with televisions watching a program and the share is the
percentage of households watching a program among those with
televisons in use at the time:<
Year Rat Sh
2005 (Fox) 11.1 19
2004 (Fox) 15.8 25
2003 (Fox) 12.8 22
2002 (Fox) 11.9 20
2001 (Fox) 15.7 25
2000 (Fox) 12.4 21
1999 (NBC) 16.0 26
1998 (Fox) 14.1 24
1997 (NBC) 16.8 29
1996 (Fox) 17.4 29
1995 (ABC-NBC) 19.5 33
1994 No Series
1993 (CBS) 17.3 30
1992 (CBS) 20.2 34
1991 (CBS) 24.0 39
1990 (CBS) 20.8 36
1989 (ABC) 16.4 30
1988 (NBC) 23.9 39
1987 (ABC) 24.0 41
1986 (NBC) 28.6 46
1985 (ABC) 25.3 39
1984 (NBC) 22.9 40
1983 (ABC) 23.3 41
1982 (NBC) 28.0 49
1981 (ABC) 30.0 49
1980 (NBC) 32.8 56
1979 (ABC) 28.0 51
1978 (NBC) 32.7 56
1977 (ABC) 29.9 52
1976 (NBC) 27.7 48
1975 (NBC) 29.0 53
1974 (NBC) 25.6 47
1973 (NBC) 30.7 57
1972 (NBC) 27.5 58
1971 (NBC) 24.2 59
1970 (NBC) 19.4 53
1969 (NBC) 22.4 58
1968 (NBC) 22.8 57

Primal · 10-28-2006, 10:00 AM

I agree that the trend towards other forms of entertainment has increased but imo, it absolutely had to do with the cities playing this time.

At least when the Yanks & Mets play more people watch whether they love the teams or love to hate them.

In this case...no one really had a vested interest in watching St. Louis & Detroit play. Except for the cities involved.

ashley76 · 10-28-2006, 10:16 AM

I think it is just a general disinterest in Baseball. I remember, as a kid, I loved Baseball. Thought I was going to play for the Braves one day. In high school I pitched and even got invited to some college try outs... Something happened in high school though. Although I loved Baseball I watched less and less and turned my attention more towards football... Now was this due to the fact that I went to school with a few future NFLers and that got me excited...? Or was it due to the fact although I loved playing Baseball it just wasn't as exciting anymore... (The future NFLers were Robert Edwards, Terrence Edwards, Takeo Spikes, loads of Division 1 players...) I think that some of this is due to the fact that Baseball's season is extremely long. Too much time between plays, etc... Today's generation is more of a fast paced society... There is more excitement in a 16 season (the games mean so much more) as opposed to a 162 game season... Just my two cents...

The General · 10-28-2006, 10:16 AM

This doesn't surprise me at all. I said it from the beginning that this was going to be the least watched WS in history. When the Cards eliminated the Mets besides me being overjoyed those bigwigs at MLB all jumped out of the window. As much as I hate the Mets if it were the Tigers Vs the Mets it would have gotten way better ratings.

I hope they do some of those changes to the playoff system.

OneOne78 · 10-28-2006, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The General

This doesn't surprise me at all. I said it from the beginning that this was going to be the least watched WS in history. When the Cards eliminated the Mets besides me being overjoyed those bigwigs at MLB all jumped out of the window. As much as I hate the Mets if it were the Tigers Vs the Mets it would have gotten way better ratings.

I hope they do some of those changes to the playoff system.

I totally agree with you. Now don't take this the wrong way because I'm a Mets fan but this had to be one of the most disappointing WS ever. BORING! The Tigers would have made a great story but this series was just BLAH.

devlinboy · 10-28-2006, 11:48 AM

its always poor when two teams from the same general area play each other. even subway series got poor ratings.

sellin71 · 10-28-2006, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneOne78

I totally agree with you. Now don't take this the wrong way because I'm a Mets fan but this had to be one of the most disappointing WS ever. BORING! The Tigers would have made a great story but this series was just BLAH.

I guess it depends on which side of the fence you are on. To me it was a great series. All of the games were close except for one. I was on the edge of my seat most of the series. There was some great pitching and some unlikely heroes. I understand that if your team isn't in it, that you may not watch. As a matter of fact the 2004 and 2006 WS are the only ones I have watched every game of since 1987.

sellin71 · 10-28-2006, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by devlinboy

its always poor when two teams from the same general area play each other. even subway series got poor ratings.

In 1985 when KC and St Louis played, they drew a 39% market share. The are only separated by a couple of hours. I think it is just a general lack of interest in baseball in general.

Primal · 10-28-2006, 12:00 PM

They gotta shorten the amount of time between pitches. All this batter setup between each pitch is a bunch of crap.

The General · 10-28-2006, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sellin71

In 1985 when KC and St Louis played, they drew a 39% market share. The are only separated by a couple of hours. I think it is just a general lack of interest in baseball in general.

Allot of it is because of general lack of interest. They need to fix the playoffs a bit. They need to make it harder for a wild card team to win and they need to make that first round 7 games. I like the idea I read I believe on Yahoo sports. They suggested that their be 2 wild card teams. The 2 wild card teams play each other in a best of 3 and the winner goes into the next series with no days off - The winner of the wild card game then plays the team with the best record. This gives division winners incentive to play out the schedule instead of coasting the way the Mets & Yankees did. Your going to want to get that best record so you can play that tired wild card team. This adds some extra excitement because now there's even an extra team that has a chance. I like the sound of this plan.