TV Ratings: FOX's World Series Game 6 thriller crushes Thursday rivals
'Vampire Diaries' ties 'Community' in the 18-49 demo
David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals
Credit: Eric Gay/AP
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An extra inning Game 6 classic delivered the biggest numbers for this year's World Series to date and helped FOX comfortably win Thursday night in all key measures. Draw your own conclusions, but although the World Series took a huge bite out of NBC's comedies and a smaller bite out of CBS' comedies and procedurals, ABC and The CW were both up week-to-week.
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 5.8 rating, far ahead of CBS' 3.0 rating in the key demographic. ABC was third with a 2.8 rating, far ahead of NBC's 1.7 rating and the 1.2 rating for The CW.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 19.72 million viewers to go with a 12.0 rating/19 share. CBS was second with a 7.5/12 and 12.09 million viewers, still comfortably ahead of the 7.925 million viewers and 5.0/8 for ABC. NBC was a distant fourth with a 2.7/4 and 4.21 million viewers. The CW averaged 2.74 million viewers and a 1.8/3.
[Univision averaged 3.69 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 for the night.]
8 p.m. - FOX's primetime romp started in the 8 p.m. hour with 17.54 million viewers and a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 for World Series Game 6 between the Cardinals and Rangers. CBS was a solid second with "The Big Bang Theory" (14.26 million viewers and a half-hour-winning 4.5 key demo rating) and "Rules of Engagement" (10.77 million viewers and a 3.4 key demo rating). ABC's umpteenth reairing of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" averaged 7.37 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo rating, far better than last week's performance for the deceased "Charlie's Angels." It was a tough night for NBC's "Community" (3.46 million and a 1.4 key demo rating) and "Parks and Recreation" (3.9 million viewers and a 1.8 key demo). In contrast, it was a season-best night for The CW's "Vampire Diaries," which averaged 3.15 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.
9 p.m. - The World Series coverage improved to 21.48 million viewers and a 6.3 key demo rating for FOX in the 9 p.m. hour. CBS' "Person of Interest" slipped slightly from last week to 11.53 million viewers and a 2.6 key demo rating. Boosted by Charlie Brown, ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" averaged 9.81 million viewers for third and a 3.7 key demo rating for second on the hour. NBC's "The Office" (5.45 million and a 2.8 key demo rating) was way down from its previous airing, but in an amusing twist, "Whitney" (4.29 million and a 2.1 key demo) was actually up from its last new episode, which could either have to do with the demo skew of the comedy itself or the timing of the end of the World Series game or just America's love for "Whitney." The CW's "The Secret Circle" had an up week with 2.33 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating.
10 p.m. - [The World Series aired outside of FOX's primetime window, but averaged 20.15 million viewers and a 6.4 key demo rating for the 10 p.m. hour.] CBS' "The Mentalist" averaged 12.24 million viewers and a 2.5 rating among adults for the 9 p.m. hour. ABC's "Private Practice" averaged 6.59 million viewers and a 2.4 key demo rating. And NBC's "Prime Suspect," despite a week of repeats to attract new viewers, slipped to 4.06 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo rating.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.
A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupJohn
October 28, 2011 at 12:14PM EST Reply to CommentSigh...maybe Whitney's numbers were a product of people confusing The Wire with Whitney S01E05 - "The Wire". One can only hope.
John Wait a second, these are live+same day dvr right? So there is a chance that people accidentally dvr'd Whitney thinking it was The Wire. Yep, thats definitely what happened.
October 28, 2011 at 12:24PM ESTM
October 28, 2011 at 12:19PM EST Reply to CommentSo Community on does just barely better than The Vampire Diaries. Nice. Maybe they should have had Jeff be a vampire for real.
Andrew
October 28, 2011 at 2:36PM EST Reply to CommentCommunity, Parks, and The Office all skew male so it'd make sense that the World Series would send their ratings down. Hopefully they bounce back next week.
theholyavenger
October 28, 2011 at 3:07PM EST Reply to CommentRules of Engagement, the show CBS was going to air on Saturdays, does better than Community and Parks combined. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
Bob Smith
October 28, 2011 at 5:57PM EST Reply to CommentFrom the article: ""Whitney" (4.29 million and a 2.1 key demo) was actually up from its last new episode, which could either have to do with the demo skew of the comedy itself or the timing of the end of the World Series game"
What now? The World Series didn't end at 9:30 (as you know, since you reference their ratings in the 10pm hour).
sepinwall It ended a little before 9:30 on the west coast. So some viewers in the Pacific timezone may have skipped the other NBC comedies but put Whitney on.
October 28, 2011 at 6:08PM EST