Cubs’ Victory Could Be the Most-Watched ‘World Series’ Game 7 in 25 Years

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What follows are the metered market (overnight) results in households by network and by half-hour for Wednesday, November 2:

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 23.2/36, ABC: 7.7/12, CBS: 3.4/ 5, NBC: 2.3/ 3, CW: 1.0/ 1

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: +300, ABC: – 6, CBS: -31, CW: -33, NBC: -48

-Winners:
“The World Series” (Fox), “The 50th Annual CMA Awards” (ABC)

-Losers (excluding repeats):
“Frequency” (CW)

Ratings Breakdown:
It was a massive victory for network television last night, with what could be the most-watched game seven of “The World Series” in 25 years and a solid performance from the “50 Annual CMA Awards” on ABC.

The Cubs’ 8-7 10-inning victory over the Indians resulted in an estimated 25.2 household rating in the overnights from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. ET. Compared to game six one night earlier (14.8 rating), this was a jump of 70 percent. Since that resulted in 23.4 million viewers, based on the Live + Same Day data, the projected audience could be 40-million viewers who tuned in to see the Cubs win their first “World Series” in 108 years. Historically, this could very well be the most-watched Game 7 of any “World Series” since the 50.3 million for Minnesota vs. Atlanta in 1991. If the final tally falls short of 39.1 million viewers, it will be the most-watched since the New York Yankees faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

Last year, the Royals game five victory over the Mets netted just 17.21 million viewers on Fox.

Despite the heavy competition, the “50th Annual CMA Awards” on ABC was on the map with a very solid 7.7/12 in the household overnights, which was just six percent short of the 8.2/13 on the year ago evening. That translated into 13.62 million viewers, based on the Live + Same Day data.

Elsewhere, “Survivor” on CBS opened with a 4.3/ 6 at 8 p.m., which was about 15 percent below normal household overnight levels this season. It led into a repeat of “Criminal Minds” at a 2.8/ 4 (#4) at 9 p.m., which was a last minute decision by the network, followed by sophomore “Code Black” at a 3.2/ 5 (#3) at 10 p.m.

NBC also ducked the baseball onslaught, choosing last minute repeats of “Law & Order: SVU” (two episodes, avg. 2.3/ 4 from 8-10 p.m.) and “Chicago PD” (#4: 2.3/ 4). And The CW populated the evening with dramas “Arrow” (#5: 1.3/ 2) and recent entry “Frequency” (#5: 0.7/ 1), which were on par from typical overnight levels.

What follows are the household overnight results for Wednesday, Nov. 2 by half-hour:

8:00 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 7.9/12 (#2)
CBS – “Survivor”: 4.4/ 7 (#2)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.2/ 3 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 16.8/28 (#1)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.3/ 2 (#2)

8:30 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 7.8/11 (#2)
CBS – “Survivor”: 4.2/ 6 (#4)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.1/ 3 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 20.9/32 (#1)
CW – “Arrow”: 1.3/ 2 (#2)

9:00 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 8.1/12 (#2)
CBS – “Criminal Minds” (R): 2.9/ 4 (#3)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 3.4/ 4 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 23.8/36
CW – “Frequency”: 0.7/ 1 (#5)

9:30 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 8.0/11 (#2)
CBS – “Criminal Minds” (R): 2.7/ 4 (#3)
NBC – “Law & Order: SVU” (R): 2.4/ 3 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 25.2/37 (#1)
CW – “Frequency”: 0.6/ 1 (#5)

10:00 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 7.6/11 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black”: 3.3/ 5 (#3)
NBC – “Chicago PD” (R): 2.4/ 4 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 26.2/39 (#1)

10:30 p.m.
ABC – “The 50th Annual CMA Awards”: 7.0/11 (#2)
CBS – “Code Black”: 3.1/ 5 (#3)
NBC – “Chicago PD” (R): 2.2/ 3 (#4)
Fox – Major League Baseball World Series, Game 7 (Cubs 8, Indians 7): 26.7/41 (#1)

Source: Nielsen Media Research