Rangers' Game 4 win continues low ratings trend for World Series

Stop if you've heard this before, but people aren't watching this World Series like they had in years past.

The Texas Rangers' Game 4 blowout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night was a slight improvement from already historically low viewership. Game 4 garnered a 4.5 rating and had 8.48 million viewers. (As mentioned here on Tuesday, ratings are a percentage of all television households in a given geography — in this case, the United States.) The Nielsen numbers dropped a day after Tuesday morning's report that Saturday's Game 2 was the least watched on record, only for Monday night's Game 3 came in even worse after those numbers were made available on Tuesday afternoon. 

Through four games, the 2023 series has averaged a 4.13 rating and 8.43 million viewers, pacing to have 1.3 million fewer viewers than the COVID-19 pandemic "bubble" 2020 World Series, which is the least watched full series on record.

Although Fox still won the night decisively over nationally televised competition, the game didn't have a mammoth NFL game to go against. TNT's Tuesday NBA doubleheader featured the New York Knicks' win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in a rematch from last year's playoffs, and Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs besting the Phoenix Suns in the late game. ESPN had an NHL game between the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs, and USA bowed out its weekly edition of WWE NXT.

Low ratings don't signal that Fox will suddenly cancel the World Series as it could do with its own TV shows. After all, that's not how broadcasting rights deals work, nor should they. Baseball is a regional endeavor at its core, so the league office may be pleased that the Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix areas are engaged both at the ballpark and in their homes. "Locally, the game averaged a 19.7 rating and 50 share in Dallas-Ft. Worth and a 12.7/36 in Phoenix," noted Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. "Game 3 the previous night had a 20.3/47 in Dallas and an 18.1/45 in Phoenix."

While the Rangers have a chance to win their first championship, some folks in the league office might secretly root for the Diamondbacks for Game 5. Should Arizona win on Wednesday night, there's a good chance that Game 6 can reverse the viewership trend on a game-by-game basis. Of the 19 series where at least six games were played since 1991, the ratings and total viewership for Game 6 came in under those for the prior game just five times, though this happened last year when the Houston Astros took the crown in Philadelphia. 

No Game 7 has ever dipped below Game 6 since ratings for the World Series became available in 1968.