The Houston Astros may not have the drawing power of the Chicago Cubs, but Fox isn’t about to complain.
The network was blessed with a seven-game World Series for the second straight year, which is ideal for business. The Astros’ victory over the Dodgers reached an average of 28.3 million viewers, the Nielsen company said.
That’s nowhere near the 40 million that 2016’s ultimate game between the Cubs and Cleveland Indians reached. But both those teams were bucking a history of futility, and the seventh game was breathtakingly close. The Astros won their first championship and dominated in the seventh game.
Still, a solid Series enabled Fox to win the ratings race for a second straight week, averaging 9.7 million viewers in primetime. CBS had 8.2 million, NBC had 6.3 million, ABC had 4.5 million, Telemundo had 1.5 million, Univision had 1.4 million, the CW had 1.3 million and ION Television had 1.2 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.73 million viewers in primetime. ESPN had 2.24 million, Hallmark had 1.9 million, MSNBC had 1.87 million and USA had 1.27 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.6 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.4 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Oct. 30-Nov. 5. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. World Series Game 7: Houston at L.A. Dodgers, 28.29 million.
2. World Series Game 6: Houston at L.A. Dodgers, 22.33 million.
3. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 15.09 million.
4. NFL Football: Oakland at Miami, NBC, 14.36 million.
5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.16 million.
6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 12.83 million.
7. “NCIS,” CBS, 12.11 million.
8. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 11.43 million.
9. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 10.58 million.
10. NFL Football: Denver at Kansas City,” ESPN, 10.49 million.
11. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 9.93 million.
12. “Bull,” CBS, 9.63 million.
13. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9.62 million.
14. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 9.27 million.
15. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 9.11 million.
16. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 8.86 million.
17. “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS, 8.63 million.
18. “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 8.52 million.
19. “Mom,” CBS, 8.46 million.
20. “This is Us,” NBC, 8.43 million.
ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co.; CBS is a division of CBS Corp.; Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox; NBC is owned by NBC Universal.