UPDATED WITH FINAL NUMBERS: The 18-inning drama between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night goosed the World Series ratings on two Fox platforms. While television scored 13,251,000 fans for prime time – down 4% from Game 2 – Fox Deportes and Fox Sports Digital celebrated increases. Fox Deportes achieved its most-watched Game 3 in network history with 462,000 viewers, while Fox Sports Digital scored an average minute streaming audience of 176,000, up 36% over 2017’s 129,000 viewers. PREVIOUSLY, 7:30: Clocking in at a stunning seven hours and 20 minutes with 18 innings, Game 3 of the 2018 World Series made history last night as the longest fall classic ever. In a town that loves to go large, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 3-2 at home victory over the Boston Red Sox also beat the previous World Series record of most innings in a single game. With over 53,110 fans in a packed Dodger Stadium, the match-up with the leading Red Sox saw the boys in blue finally get back in the game to garner their first win of the competition so far. Related Story World Series Goes Dark Via DirecTV in Phoenix, Outraging Fans What an incredible way to end the night in front of the best fans. Thanks for staying up with us! #LADetermined pic.twitter.com/4KLlW9iMs8 — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 27, 2018 However, despite one dramatic turn after another on the field and Max Muncy living the dream with that walk-off homer well after midnight PT at the bottom of the 18th, the ratings for Fox did not hold out as long as the fans on Friday. Last night’s 5 PM PT starting Game 3 of the 2018 World Series snared a 9.5/20 rating in the metered markets. Perhaps too much of a grind for all but the most hardcore of Red Sox and Dodgers supporters, that result is down just over 4% in the early numbers from October 24’s Game 2 to hit a low for the series so far. Up against the Houston Astros’ triumph over the Dodgers in Game 3 of the 2017 World Series on October 27 of that year, last night’s match-up stumbled nearly 10% in the tally from 56 markets across the nation. That three hour and 46-minute-long near Halloween game of last year in a series that ultimately saw Houston take home their first World Series championship ended up with a 4.2 rating among adults 18-49 and 15.5 million viewers. The Boston-played and Red sox winning three-hour primetime Game 2 of this year delivered 13.46 million viewers with a 3.3/15 rating among the 18-49s in the final numbers for the Rupert Murdoch owned network. We’ll update with more ratings from last night’s historic Game 3 and the rest of the primetime offerings later as they come in. Hoping the momentum holds for the hometown boys, Game 4 starts tonight in LA just after 5 PM PT. It almost goes without saying but what the Hell – Go Dodgers! Elsewhere in Friday ratings, the annual appearance of the animated classic It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, did well for ABC, scoring an 0.0/4 ratings share and 3.86 million viewers in the 8 PM slot. CBS’s McGyver did an 0.6/3 and 5.86 million viewers in the same period. In the 9 PM slot, Hawaii Five-O on CBS did an 0.7/3 ratings share and 6.87 million total viewers. Wrapping up the prime time night, Blue Bloods on CBS did an 0.7/3 and 7.79 million total viewers, crushing its competition.<doc-sep>UPDATE 4:20 PM: The World Series is taking a night off as the 2-0 Boston Red Sox and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers move America’s pastime out West after Game 1 and Game 2 in Beantown. With Game 3 set for tomorrow night in the City of Angels, the final numbers from last night’s Game 2 reveal that Fox is also struggling to get any ratings traction despite the deep national following for the Red Sox and the mega-market of LA. The three-hour primetime Game 2 drew 13.46 million viewers with a 3.3/15 rating among adults 18-49. That’s down double digits from the Game 2 of the 2017 World Series when the Dodgers lost at home to ultimately series winning Houston Astros. Taking a 13% drop in total viewers and 21% in the key demo from last year, the 2018 Game 2 also declined 11% in overall audience from the 2018 Game 1 of October 23. In terms of the 18-49s, Game 2 of the 2018 competition has dipped just over 2% from Game 1. See ya at Dodger Stadium on Friday. PREVIOUSLY, 7:25 AM: At this rate, the 2018 World Series is starting to look like it could end up a lot like the 2017 MLB championship for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Having lost Game 2 against the Boston Red Sox 4-2 in the Massachusetts metropolis last night like they did to the Houston Astros in their second match-up last year, the City of Angels team could find themselves coming up short in their second World Series in a row. Down 2-0 to the Red Sox, hope may emerge for the Dodgers when the bases battle brings them out West on Friday for some warmer bats in their first home game of the 2018 competition. At this stage, Fox might be saying some prayers for the City of Angels’ boys to rally too. In metered market ratings, last night’s Game 2 of the World Series is down from last year’s comparable October 25, 2017 showdown while staying steady with this year’s Game 1. With Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel owning his innings in an overall rough night for the Dodgers, the just over three-hour game in Boston delivered a 9.9/17 in the early metrics. That’s a drop of 10% from Game 2 of the 2017 World Series and a dip of 1% from this year’s Game 1 on October 23. Last year’s Game 2 earned 15.48 million viewers and a 4.2/17 rating among adults 18-49 for Fox in the final numbers. Game 1 of the 2018 World Series drew a 3.7/17 in the key demo with an audience of 13.8 million for the Rupert Murdoch owned net. Right now, the 10.0/18 MM average for the first two games of the World Series is the lowest result for the competition since the 8.4/13 that the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals had at this stage in 2014. There will be no World Series tonight as the sports heavy New Fox toggles over to the NFL and the Miami Dolphins v. the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football. As for the big baseball game, we’ll update with Game 2 numbers, and more of what was on the Big 4 last night, when they come in later today. BTW – Go Dodgers! In other Wednesday raings news, death became ABC’s Modern Family (1.5, 5.22M), which logged a best-since-season-debut demo rating killing off a character, though the demo stat was down relative to same night last year. Halloween themed storylines played well on ABC’s other comedies. The Goldbergs (1.3, 4.98M), American Housewife (1.1, 4.35M), and Single Parent (1.1, 3.79M) grew to best-since-debut numbers. At 10 PM, A Million Little Things (0.8, 3.51M) was stat. NBC was Wednesday’s top-rated entertainment network. Chicago Med (1.3, 7.75M) was he night’s most watched entertainment series, matching the network’s best demo rating in the slot with in-season regular programming since February of 2015. Chicago Fire (1.3, 7.65M) tied Med as No. 1 for the night in the demo. And, Chicago P.D. (1.2, 6.65M) grew, despite World Series competition, to equal its best performance since last March. CW dramas seemed to enjoy an absence of Fox drama competition; Riverdale (0.5, 1.43M) and All American (0.3, 787K) both grew 1/10th in demo week o week. CBS’s Survivor (1.4, 7.35M) gained viewers, after which Seal Team (0.8, 5.43M) and Criminal Minds (0.7, 4.27M) broke even, week to week, in the demo. That means no ABC, CBS, NBC or CW program lost rating versus previous week despite World Series competition. Fox (2.8, 11.32M) towered over primetime Wednesday. NBC (1.2, 7.35M) was tops among entertainment slates, followed ABC (1.1, 4.23M) in the demo and CBS (1.0, 5.68M) in total viewers. CW (0.4, 1.11M) followed.<doc-sep>
UPDATE, 3:55 PM: Game 2 of the 2018 World Series is about to start very soon but the final numbers of last night’s Boston Red Sox’s winning Game 1 certainly show some room for improvement, at least over the past few years. Scoring a 3.7/17 rating among adults 18-49 and 13.8 million viewers, the almost four hour game on Fox is down 5% in the demo and 8% in total audience from last year’s opener. However, while that may seem like a mere dip from 2017, it is actual the lowest World Series Game 1 viewership since 2014. That’s when 12.2 million tuned in for the San Francisco Giants 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on October 21 of that year. As expected and as is often the case with live sports, this year’s Game 1 adjusted up almost 9% from the initial fast affiliate 18-49 ratings of earlier today. Fox easily won the night with NBC in second place in the demo with a 1.7/7 and CBS number #2 in viewers with 9.07 million sets of eyeballs. Related Story 'Bodyguard' Review: UK Import Is More Predictable Filler Than Thriller PREVIOUSLY, 7:29 AM: The opening game of the 2018 World Series went nearly four hours last night in chilly Boston, but really it was over in the bottom of the seventh inning when Eduardo Nunez hit that three-run homer for the Red Sox. As you can see, if you didn’t already last night: In the end, it was the eight-time World Series champion Red Sox taking the lead with an 8-4 Game 1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. To add to Boston’s initial glory in front of 38,454 fans at Fenway Park last night and those watching at home, left fielder Andrew Benintendi became the first player in team history to score four hits in a World Series game. All of which added up to some steady-ish ratings for MLB and Fox. Facing a near full Big 4 bench, including This Is Us, NCIS and Week 2 of ABC’s Roseanne spinoff The Conners, Game 1 of the World Series on the Rupert Murdoch-owned network hit a 10.0/18 in metered market results. That’s a dip of 2% in the early metrics from when the Dodgers beat the Houston Astros in steamy Los Angeles on October 24, 2017 in the opener of the 2017 World Series. Tuesday’s game was down 21% in the metered markets from Game 1 of the historic 2016 World Series featuring the Chicago Cubs. Which meant that last night’s Game 1 was the lowest metered market rating for a World Series opener since the October 21, 2014 matchup between San Francisco and Kansas City. Falling double digits itself from the Cubs winning year before, the two and a half hour long start of the 2017 World Series went on to snare 14.96 million viewers and a 3.9/15 rating among adults 18-49. Even though the Cubs lost that 2016 opener against the Cleveland Indians, the team’s 108-year World Series drought provided a once-in-several-generation baseball and a TV experience that captured the national interest for the already well followed Cubs We’ll update with more 2018 World Series Game 1 ratings, as well as everything else on the Big 4, as they come around the bases later today. Game 2 tonight sees the Red Sox with the hometown advantage again, with the sure to be resetting Dodgers taking the series home Friday to a distinctly warmer climate, in hopefully more ways than one.