Weekly Cable Ratings: MLB Playoffs Hit Primetime Ratings Home Run for TBS, FS1

R. Thomas Umstead
·1 min read
1
Jose Leclerc #25 of the Texas Rangers celebrates the final out to defeat the Houston Astros in Game Seven to win the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2023.
Jose Leclerc #25 of the Texas Rangers celebrates the final out to defeat the Houston Astros in Game Seven to win the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on October 23, 2023.

Major League Baseball’s League Championship Series proved to be a major hit for TBS and FS1 as both networks finished at the top of last week’s primetime charts.

TBS averaged 2.9 million viewers for the week of October 16 to October 22 to top all cable networks, followed by FS1, which averaged 2.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers provided by Fox News.

Both networks were bolstered by their respective coverage of baseball's playoffs games. TBS was led by its October 20 coverage of the Philadelphia Phillies-Arizona Diamondbacks National League Championship series, which drew 5.39 million viewers, while FS1’s October 22 Texas Rangers-Houston Astros American League Championship telecast drew 4.76 million viewers.

Also: MLB Hopes Diamondbacks-Phillies Game 7 Will Spark World Series Ratings Rally

Fox News finished third with 2 million viewers, followed by ESPN with 1.8 million viewers and MSNBC with 1.2 million watchers. Hallmark Channel was sixth with 917,000 viewers, followed by HGTV (814,000 viewers), CNN (687,000), INSP (601,000) and TLC (565,000).

Fox News finished first on the total day chart for the fifth straight week, followed by MSNBC (918,000 viewers), TBS (732,000), ESPN (666,000) and CNN (631,000).