Fast National ratings for Wednesday, October 23, 2013.
Game One of the 2013 World Series was a rout for the Boston Red Sox and it also proved to be a rout for FOX, which controlled Wednesday night in all key measures.
The game was up by 28 percent over last year’s World Series opener among young viewers for Fast Nationals, which doesn’t necessarily mean much due to both the nature of live events and the geographic nature of the two participating World Series teams. Stay tuned for more numbers later.
The World Series helped take a small bite out of all of ABC’s comedies other than “Super Fun Night,” which may end up slightly up week-to-week.
Facing baseball, CBS’ “Survivor” also went down, but “Criminal Minds” rose and the 300th episode of the “CSI” mothership got a small bump.
And over on The CW, “Arrow” was down a little and sent “The Tomorrow People” slipping into slightly problematic territory for the first time. [I may need to do some analysis on this later.]
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 4.1 rating for Wednesday primetime, tops in the key demographic. CBS was a distant second with a 2.4 key demo rating, followed closely by ABC’s 2.2 key demo rating. NBC’s 1.2 key demo rating topped the 0.8 key demo rating for The CW.
Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 14.5 million viewers and an 8.7 rating/14 share for its standard two hours of Wednesday primetime (a bit lower if you include the 10 p.m. hour). CBS was second with 10.37 million viewers and a 6.5/10, far ahead of the 6.95 million viewers and 4.5/7 for ABC. NBC was fourth with 4.82 million viewers, while The CW averaged a 1.5/2 and 2.35 million viewers for the night.
8 p.m. – The start of World Series Game One between the Cardinals and Red Sox averaged 14.295 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 to win the 8 p.m. hour. CBS was second with 9.37 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo rating for “Survivor: Blood vs. Water.” ABC followed with “The Middle” (8.19 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating) and “Back in the Game” (6.24 million and a 1.7 key demo). NBC’s “Revolution” averaged 5.05 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, beating the 2.81 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for The CW’s “Arrow.”
9 p.m. – In its second hour, the Boston/St. Louis World Series game averaged 14.71 million viewers and a 4.4 rating among adults 18-49 for FOX. CBS’ “Criminal Minds” was second overall with 11.48 million viewers and third in the key demo with a 2.7 rating. ABC followed with “Modern Family” (10.29 million and a 3.8 key demo) and “Super Fun Night” (5.96 million and a 2.2 key demo). NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged 5.54 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating, way down from last week in all measures. The CW’s “The Tomorrow People” slid to 1.89 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating from its lead-in.
10 p.m. – The 300th episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” drew 10.25 million viewers and a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49, up from last week, but not a huge bump for the milestone. ABC’s “Nashville” averaged 5.52 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating. What will probably be the series finale for NBC’s “Ironside” averaged 3.88 million viewers and a 0.8 key demo rating, a drop from last week.
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.