Cubs-Pirates Pitch TBS Wild Card Ratings Record

By
published

Major League Baseball’s Wild Card game hit another ratings home run last night on cable with TBS’ Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates telecast.

TBS generated a network Wild Card game record 5.5 overnight rating for its coverage of the Cubs’ 4-0 win over the Pirates, according to Nielsen. The rating beats out TBS' previous Wild Card game high of a 4.1 rating set by the 2012 Baltimore Orioles/Texas Rangers game.

 Total viewership numbers for the Cubs-Pirates telecast will be released later today.

TBS’ Cubs-Pirates game is the highest for a TBS baseball game since the 2011 NLDS Game 5 St. Louis Cardinals/Philadelphia Phillies contest, according to network officials.

The performance comes on the heels of ESPN’s Houston Astros-New York Yankees telecast Tuesday which drew a Wild Card game record 5.7 overnight rating and 7.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.