In comparison, last week’s debate between Senators McCain and Obama — the candidates’ second – received a 42.0 household rating in the top 55 local TV markets.  The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets.

Wednesday night’s championship baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies — aired by FOX, instead of the debate – may have impacted the debate’s ratings.  In the Philadelphia market, where 43.7% of local households tuned in for last week’s presidential debate, the debate drew 32% of local households, while the baseball game drew 32.3%. 

In the Los Angeles market, 10.2% of local households watched the game, while 29.2% of households watched the debate — down slightly from the previous debate, in which 33.7% of L.A. homes tuned in.

Among the top 56 local metered markets, the Baltimore market had the largest TV audience, with a household rating of 49.3, while the Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto, California market again had the lowest household rating: 28.1. 

One rating point equals 1% of the total TV audience in a given market.

View ratings for Nielsen’s 56 top local metered markets.

Coverage of the final debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama aired on NBC, CBS, ABC, BBCA, CSPAN, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, UNIVISION, CNN, and FOX News Channel.

National ratings for Wednesday night’s debate will be available from Nielsen Thursday afternoon.

Angels/Red Sox Match-Up Tops Division Series TV Ratings
The third game of the Los Angeles Angels v. Boston Red Sox drew the largest television audience of the division series: 6.2 million viewers.  The three other games in that contentious series also made the top ten — with average TV audiences of approximately 5.7 million (game four), 5.3 million (game two), and 4.4 million viewers (game one), respectively.

After the jump, view complete national ratings from the division series games, aired exclusively on TBS.

Manny Boosts Dodgers…TV Ratings?
What are the odds that the Los Angeles Dodgers would have made it to the MLB National League Championship Series without Manny Ramirez?  Since Manny’s move west to join the Dodgers, the team has gone from one game under .500 to seven games above. 

Local L.A. fans’ interest in the Dodgers is also on the rise.  Ramirez’s first game with the Dodgers drew 5.2% of all TV households in the L.A. market – the team’s largest TV audience of the season.  Overall, local ratings for Dodgers games are up by 35% since August 1.

Rays’ First Post-Season Triggers TV Ratings Surge
The Red Sox, Ramirez’s former team, didn’t miss a beat after losing their all-star slugger to the Dodgers.  The resurgent Tampa Bay Rays, however, may change that. 

The Rays, who are competing in their first post-season in franchise history, are drawing strong TV audiences in their local Tampa Bay market, with ratings up by 97% over last season, to date.  When the Rays and the Red Sox last faced off on July 2, 9% of all households in the Tampa Bay market tuned in for the game, setting a Rays franchise ratings record.

Historically, at least where league championship series are involved, ratings have been significantly higher when teams from major markets, such as Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles, are involved. A breakdown of those matchups will be featured prior to the upcoming NL and AL championship series.

Below are historical ratings since 2000 for Division Series Playoffs. Numbers from 2007 division games broadcast on TNT and TBS are combined average viewership for both National and American leagues. The 13 games broadcast on TBS drew an average of 5.7 million viewers, while the four games picked up by TNT drew an average of 1.6 million viewers.

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES