Ratings for Series Second Lowest Ever

Television ratings for the World Series were the second-lowest ever and, for the first time, were lower than the ratings for the NBA finals.

CBS’ coverage of the Toronto Blue Jays’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies averaged a 17.3 rating, according to figures released Tuesday by A.C. Nielsen Co.

“Geography really caused the ratings erosion, not the type of play that we saw,” said Jack Deitchman, senior vice president and U.S. director of broadcast programming for the Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide advertising agency. “Although Philadelphia is a large market (the nation’s fourth-largest), it still wasn’t large enough to carry the ratings that an L.A., New York or Chicago would have.”

Since 1959, as far back as TV records go, only the 16.4 rating for the Oakland Athletics’ four-game sweep over the San Francisco Giants in 1989 on ABC had lower ratings than this year’s Series. The ’89 Series was delayed by the Bay Area earthquake that struck on the day Game 3 was scheduled.

Last year’s Series between Toronto and the Atlanta Braves averaged a 20.2 rating, which had been the third-lowest before this year.

By comparison, last June’s NBA finals between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns had a record 17.9 rating.

Another factor in the Series’ ratings decline was Toronto’s presence. That meant that CBS could count on huge local ratings from only one U.S. television market instead of the usual two. Deitchman estimated that the absence of the second U.S. market cost CBS as much as three points in the national ratings.

Several factors out of CBS’ control hurt the ratings. The third game was delayed by rain for more than an hour, and once the game started, Toronto quickly ended much of the suspense, scoring three times in the first inning. The Blue Jays’ 10-3 victory in a game that did not end until 12:40 a.m. EDT drew a 15.2 rating.