The 2012 World Series matchup is set between the San Francisco Giants (Go Giants!) and the Detroit Tigers.
2010's San Francisco v. Texas World Series went five games and tied for the lowest household ratings ever for the Fall Classic. It just missed being the lowest average viewership ever, but ended up ahead of the rain plagued 2008 series.
2011's St. Louis v. Texas World Series saw a big jump, not because of the teams involved, but because it went seven games. Every potential clinching game drives up the numbers.
Here's your chance to guess the average viewership** for the 2012 World Series.
Since the longer the Series goes, the higher the viewership and ratings rise, to keep the guessing comparable, make your average viewership guess assuming a 5 game Series (the average World Series length in the last 10 years was 5.3 games).
That being the case, I like a 5 game series to average 15 million viewers, slightly more than the 2010 series.
What's your guess?
World Series Ratings Data, 1968-2011:
| Year | Net | #Telecasts | rating | Share | Homes | Viewers | Teams |
| 2011 | FOX | 7 | 10.0 | 16 | 16,600,000 | Texas Rangers/ St. Louis Cardinals | |
| 2010 | FOX | 5 | 8.4 | 14 | 14,300,000 | Texas Rangers/San Francisco Giants | |
| 2009 | FOX | 6 | 11.7 | 19 | 19,400,000 | New York Yankees / Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 2008 | FOX | 5* | 8.4 | 14 | 13,635,000 | Tampa Bay Rays/Philadelphia Phillies | |
| 2007 | FOX | 4 | 10.6 | 18 | 11,994,000 | 17,123,000 | Boston Red Sox / Colorado Rockies |
| 2006 | FOX | 5 | 10.1 | 17 | 11,282,000 | 15,812,000 | St. Louis Cardinals /Detroit Tigers |
| 2005 | FOX | 4 | 11.1 | 19 | 12,272,000 | 17,162,000 | Chicago White Sox/Houston Astros |
| 2004 | FOX | 4 | 15.8 | 26 | 17,270,000 | 25,390,000 | Boston Red Sox/St. Louis Cardinals |
| 2003 | FOX | 6 | 12.8 | 22 | 13,834,000 | 20,142,000 | Florida Marlins / NY Yankees |
| 2002 | FOX | 7 | 11.9 | 20 | 12,645,000 | 19,261,000 | Anahiem Angels/San Francisco Giants |
| 2001 | FOX | 7 | 15.7 | 26 | 16,519,000 | 24,528,000 | Arizona Diamnondbacks / NY Yankees |
| 2000 | FOX | 5 | 12.4 | 21 | 12,657,000 | 18,081,000 | NY Yankees / NY Mets |
| 1999 | NBC | 4 | 16.0 | 26 | 16,105,000 | 23,731,000 | NY Yankees / Atlanta Braves |
| 1998 | FOX | 4 | 14.1 | 24 | 14,050,000 | 20,340,000 | NY Yankees / San Diego Padres |
| 1997 | NBC | 7 | 16.7 | 29 | 16,410,000 | 24,790,000 | Florida Marlins / Cleveland Indians |
| 1996 | FOX | 6 | 17.4 | 29 | 16,890,000 | 25,220,000 | NY Yankees / Atlanta Braves |
| 1995 | ABC | 6 | 19.5 | 33 | 18,710,000 | 28,970,000 | Atlanta Braves / Cleveland Indians |
| 1994 | Baseball Strike | ||||||
| 1993 | CBS | 6 | 17.3 | 30 | 16,330,000 | 24,700,000 | Toronto Blue Jays / Philadelphia Phillies |
| 1992 | CBS | 6 | 20.2 | 34 | 18,820,000 | 30,010,000 | Toronto Blue Jays / Atlanta Braves |
| 1991 | CBS | 7 | 24.0 | 39 | 22,060,000 | 35,680,000 | Minnesota Twins / Atlanta Braves |
| 1990 | CBS | 4 | 20.8 | 36 | 19,320,000 | 30,240,000 | Cincinnati Reds / Oakland Athletics |
| 1989 | ABC | 4 | 16.4 | 29 | 15,090,000 | 24,550,000 | Oakland Athletics / San Francisco Giants |
| 1988 | NBC | 5 | 23.9 | 39 | 21,610,000 | 34,490,000 | Los Angeles Dodgers / Oakland Athletics |
| 1987 | ABC | 7 | 24.0 | 41 | 21,230,000 | 35,340,000 | Minnesota Twins / St. Louis Cardinals |
| 1986 | NBC | 7 | 28.6 | 46 | 23,640,000 | 36,370,000 | New York Mets / Boston Red Sox |
| 1985 | ABC | 7 | 25.3 | 39 | 21,740,000 | 34,510,000 | Kansas City Royals / St. Louis Cardinals |
| 1984 | NBC | 5 | 22.9 | 40 | 19,270,000 | 28,010,000 | Detroit Tigers / San Diego Padres |
| 1983 | ABC | 5 | 23.3 | 41 | 19,570,000 | 29,540,000 | Baltimore Orioles / Philadelphia Phillies |
| 1982 | NBC | 7 | 27.9 | 49 | 23,370,000 | 38,070,000 | St. Louis Cardinals / Milwaukee Brewers |
| 1981 | ABC | 6 | 30.0 | 49 | 24,480,000 | 41,370,000 | Los Angeles Dodgers / NY Yankees |
| 1980 | NBC | 6 | 32.8 | 56 | 25,380,000 | 42,300,000 | Philadelphia Phillies / Kansas City Royals |
| 1979 | ABC | 7 | 28.5 | 50 | 21,730,000 | 37,960,000 | Pittsburgh Pirates / Baltimore Orioles |
| 1978 | NBC | 6 | 32.8 | 56 | 24,450,000 | 44,278,950 | NY Yankees / Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 1977 | ABC | 6 | 29.8 | 53 | 21,720,000 | 37,150,000 | NY Yankees / Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 1976 | NBC | 4 | 27.5 | 48 | 19,580,000 | 34,720,000 | Cincinnati Reds / NY Yankees |
| 1975 | NBC | 7 | 28.7 | 52 | 19,980,000 | 35,960,000 | Cincinnati Reds / Boston Red Sox |
| 1974 | NBC | 5 | 25.6 | 46 | 17,540,000 | 29,080,000 | Oakland Athletics / Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 1973 | NBC | 7 | 30.7 | 57 | 20,320,000 | 34,750,000 | Oakland Athletics / NY Mets |
| 1972 | NBC | 7 | 27.5 | 58 | NA | NA | Oakland Athletics / Cincinnati Reds |
| 1971 | NBC | 7 | 24.2 | 59 | NA | NA | Pittsburgh Pirates / Baltimore Orioles |
| 1970 | NBC | 5 | 19.4 | 53 | NA | NA | Baltimore Orioles / Cincinnati Reds |
| 1969 | NBC | 5 | 22.4 | 58 | NA | NA | NY Mets / Baltimore Orioles |
| 1968 | NBC | 7 | 22.8 | 57 | NA | NA | Detroit Tigers / St. Louis Cardinals |
*While there were six telecasts for the 2008 series, there were only five games. The sixth telecast was the completion of game five which was suspended due to rain.
**Of course average viewership means nothing to advertising revenue, but like most historical ratings data, we lack historical demo group ratings for comparison.
Copyright © 2012 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
Why does Selig continue to put game 3s on Saturday? That always kills the overall average.
Between popularity of baseball and basketball look at local tv ratings!!!
Baseball is superior in almost all markets when it comes to local tv ratings.
I’m a huge baseball fan and am saddened that it’s losing so much viewership to the NFL over the last decade. Unfortunately, looking at how low the LCS viewership was, I think the World Series will average under 13 million. The TV networks can’t do anything to improve the ratings. This is an institutional problem for baseball. Youngsters need to move away from the soccer ball and head back to the baseball diamond. The “oh my god” factor that comes with betting on both pro and college football has hurt baseball too. Baseball doesn’t have an “oh my god” or “must watch” factor. It’s still must watch in my household though.
@Jesse
Interesting looking at the table. Notice how in the 80s it didn’t matter who was in the world series, america loved baseball. I mean an all Missouri series between the Cardinals/Royals over 30 million. Twins/Braves over 30 million. Twins/Cardinals over 30 million. Blue Jays/Braves over 30 million. That just tells you how much Baseball’s popularity has gone down.
It matches the decline of broadcast ratings in general. During that time period, the top shows were pulling 30 million viewers every week.
@lol
Why does Selig continue to put game 3s on Saturday? That always kills the overall average.
I expect that FOX and MLB will realign it next year to accomodate the wildcard playoff.
I think they should go with a Su,Mo,-,We,Th,Fr,-,Su,Mo alignment.
They can swap NFL doubleheader weeks to set up the huge lead-in for games 1 and 6. If it ends early, they can put Animation Domination originals on at the last minute due to the football promotion. There’s almost no interruption to their primetime lineup (The X Factor can air on Tuesday). It frees up the Saturdays so if they pull a big football matchup, it can air in primetime away from CBS and NBC. Finally, all possible final games (4-7) will air during November sweeps.
Go Giants!!!
It’s crazy how the east coast just won’t watch any west coast teams. History shows that when there is a west coast team in the WS then the viewers decline. Look how big the decline was when the Giants played the A’s in the WS.
CRAZY!
I say 14-14.9. AppleStinx won’t remember what i predicted by the time it’s over.
So I’ll claim victory no matter what the numbers are. 
“Go Giants!!! It’s crazy how the east coast just won’t watch any west coast teams. History shows that when there is a west coast team in the WS then the viewers decline. Look how big the decline was when the Giants played the A’s in the WS. CRAZY!”
Because East Coast rules!
Would it be to much trouble to make a “poll category”? Click on it to see all the polls. I predict then gotta hunt down the poll page to see how bad i did.
The search box works OK, but could save same time with a poll category.
Both games have been under 13 million, Game 3 is on a Saturday, and then half the east coast will be without power for whatever games are left.