Despite St. Louis' 9-0 demolition of Los Angeles, the final game of the National League Championship Series was the set's best with the Nielsens.
TBS' Oct. 18 telecast averaged a 3.7 U.S. household rating and 6.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. Those numbers marked 3% advances from the 3.6 rating and 5.9 million for Game 6 of the 2011 NLCS, when St. Louis advanced to the World Series with a 12-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals will take on the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 Fall Classic, which begins Oct. 23 on Fox.
For this year's six-game NLCS series, TBS averaged a 3.2 rating and 5 million viewers, respective increases of 10% and 9% over the 2.9 and 4.6 million marks in 2011, despite two afternoon telecasts this year compared with one during the last NLCS to air on the network. TBS averaged 5.54 million viewers for four primetime telecasts, a 14% gain from 4.87 million viewers for five primetime telecasts in 2011.
The 2013 NLCS, though, was down 16% in ratings and viewership from the 3.8 rating and 5.9 million viewers for last year's four-game American League Championship Series in which the Detroit Tigers swept the New York Yankees.
Overall, despite all four MLB Division Series going the full five games last year and the absence of a team from New York this postseason - the largest television market with 7.5 million homes - TBS averaged 4.16 million viewers for 24 playoff telecasts, up 2% from 4.08 million over the same number of telecasts in 2012. TBS, which has sat atop cable's primetime during its MLB postseason coverage, matched last year's 2.7 rating.
