MLB Division Playoff Historical Ratings

Nielsen Wire — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:41:05 +0000

This week begins Major League Baseball playoffs in the National League (Philadelphia Phillies vs. Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs) and American League (Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays).

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

Year	Network	Avg. Number Of Viewers
2007	TBS (13 games)	4,243,000
2007	TNT (4 games)	1,225,000
2006	FOX	6,752,000
2005	FOX	7,013,000
2004	FOX	7,868,000
2003	FOX	11,403,000
2002	FOX	8,854,000
2001	FOX	6,272,000
2000	FOX	6,208,000
Source: The Nielsen Company

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES

Year	Network	Avg. Number Of Viewers
2006	FOX	7,548,000
2005	FOX	11,851,000
2004	FOX	7,749,000
2003	FOX	10,879,000
2002	FOX	9,337,000
2001	FOX	7,618,000
2000	FOX/NBC	7,003,000
Source: The Nielsen Company

Nielsen Wire » Milwaukee Brewers

MLB Division Playoff Historical Ratings