LAS VEGAS — The Houston Astros‘ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies finished as the second least-watched World Series on television.
The six games averaged 11,784,000 on Fox, down 1.3% from the 11,940,000 for the Atlanta Braves‘ six-game win over the Astros last year and ahead of only the 9,946,000 for the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ six-game victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 2020.
Houston’s 3-1 win in Game 6 on Saturday night was seen by 12,549,000 viewers on Fox, down 11% from 14,140,000 for Atlanta’s 7-0 victory over the Astros in last year’s finale, played on a Tuesday night. Including Fox Deportes and streaming, this year’s Game 6 was viewed by 12,871,000.
Game 6 was played opposite several college football games, including Alabama–LSU on ESPN, Clemson–Notre Dame on NBC and Florida State–Miami on ABC.
The Series finished with a 6.1 Nielsen rating and 17 share. The rating was the second-lowest behind the 5.2 for 2020, which had a 12 share. This year’s share marked a 1% increase from last year.
Including Fox Deportes and streaming, this year’s Series averaged 12,023,000 viewers.
Viewers peaked at 51,560,000 for Game 7 of the 1975 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.
Totals declined with the rise of cable television and then of streaming services, giving viewers more choices.
The Series had a 25.0 rating and a 52 share in Philadelphia and a 24.0/55 in Houston.
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.