World Series TV viewers up 20% from 2020 but down from 2019

World Series television ratings rebounded following the record low set last year

World Series Baseball (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

World Series television ratings rebounded following the record low set last year.

The Atlanta Braves six-game victory over the Houston Astros averaged 11,750,000 viewers on Fox, the network said Wednesday.

That was up 20% from the 9,785,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers six-game victory last year over the Tampa Bay Rays which was played at the neutral site of Arlington, Texas, following a pandemic-shortened regular season.

This year's Series averaged a 6.5 rating and 16 share, up from a 5.2 rating and 12 share last year.

Viewership for the Braves-Astros matchup was below the level for Washington s seven-game victory over Houston in 2019, which averaged an 8.1 rating, 16 share and 14,067,000 viewers.

A record average of 227,164 streamed this year's Series on Fox digital outlets, an increase of 49%.

Atlanta's 7-0 win in Game 6, which finished the Braves' first title since 1995, drew a 7.88 rating, 18 share and average of 13,968,000 viewers on Fox.

That was up from the 6.8 rating, 15 share and an average of 12,627,000 viewers for the Dodgers' 3-1 victory in Game 6 last year and down from the 9.6 rating, 19 share and average of 16,551,000 viewers for Washington’s 7-2 win in Game 6 of 2019.

Fox said when Spanish-language coverage on Fox Deportes and streaming platforms were included, Game 6 was viewed by 14,305,000.

The game by game ratings:

Game 1: 6.1 rating, 15 share, 10,811,000 viewers

Game 2: 5.8, 14, 10,280,000

Game 3: 6.1, 16, 11,232,000

Game 4: 5.65, 15, 10,511,000

Game 5: 7.38, 18, 13,644,000

Game 6: 7.88, 18, 13,968,000

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned in to a broadcast. The share is the percentage viewing a telecast among those households with TVs on at the time.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports