The final live+same day ratings for Game 1 of the 2015 World Series (14,944,000 persons 2+) puts the Mets-Royals game just behind 2010’s Texas at San Francisco Game 1, slightly above the average of Game 1 since 2006. The adult 18-49 rating for Game 1 2015 (4.6) is a tenth of a rating point above the Game 1 average since 2006, and the men 18-49 rating (the key sports sales demo) was two tenths above the average. In contrast, at the extreme ends of the adult spectrum 2015 was a tick below average: men 18-34 were a tenth of a rating point below average and men 50+ were two tenths below. Still, all demos this year are well above the record lows in 2014 and 2012, and in the scheme of things very good numbers. But how did the very long telecast (over 5 hours last night instead of a more normal 3 hours 20 minutes) impact the rating?
The chart below looks at the size of the audience (with total viewers age 2+) in quarter hour segments (in the middle column). The game peaked in the 10:45 pm ET quarter hour with 17.3 million viewers, with the biggest drops coming around 11:45 pm (heading toward 15 million) and 12:15 am (falling below 14 million). The right column shows the cumulative program audience through each quarter hour. The audience peaked after the 11:45-11:59 pm quarter hour with 15.2 million viewers, not much different than if it had ended at 11:30 pm (15.1 million viewers with a more typical three and a half hour length). The fifth hour (12-1 am) did drag the total audience down, but only to 14.9 million viewers, not a huge difference.
What about the 18-49 sales demo? The adult 18-49 rating actually peaked outside of prime time in the 11:30-11:45 pm quarter hour (a 5.5 rating for that segment). Also, at 11:45 pm, the cumulative program rating maxed out at a 4.6 rating, where game 1 would stay all the way through the end. The quarter hour ratings were falling from the peak after 11:45, but the quarter hour rating did not fall below the overall cumulative average until 12:45 am, when the game was almost ending in the 14th inning. If the game had ended at 11:30 pm or midnight or 12:30 am, the program ratings would not have been materially different.
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