Late October and early November are always like Christmas over at Fox, at least in terms of ratings, because of the huge numbers the World Series draws for the network. This year is no different: Three of the series games topped the ratings amongst the broadcast networks for the week ending Nov. 1. Game 4, which aired Sunday evening, drew the highest viewership in primetime for the week, pulling in 22.8 million viewers. Wednesday’s Game 1 (19.5 million) and Thursday’s Game 2 (18.9 million) followed in the No. 2 and 3 spots. Saturday’s Game 3 was all the way down at No. 7 with 15.4 million viewers, likely taking a ratings hit because it fell on a Saturday evening that also happened to be Halloween.
The rest of the Top 20 didn’t pack too many surprises for the week, with ABC’s Dancing with the Stars competition episode on Monday coming in as the highest non-World Series broadcast with 17.4 million viewers at No. 4. In fact, several of the shows in the Top 20 were old: CBS decided to air repeats of many of its biggest shows—like NCIS (16.7 million), CSI: Miami (11.5 million), Two and a Half Men (11.4 million), NCIS: Los Angeles (11.1 million), and The Big Bang Theory (10.9 million)—which all still managed to do well despite being previously seen.
The full Top 20—complete with viewership totals—is after the jump.
1. World Series Game 4 | Fox | 22.8 million
2. World Series Game 1 | Fox | 19.5 million
3. World Series Game 2 | Fox | 18.9 million
4. Dancing with the Stars Monday | ABC | 17.4 million
5. NCIS (R) | CBS | 16.7 million
6. The Mentalist | CBS | 15.5 million
7. World Series Game 3 | Fox | 15.4 million
8. CSI | CBS | 15.2 million
(tie) 8. Dancing with the Stars Wednesday | ABC | 15.2 million
10. Desperate Housewives | ABC | 14.1 million
11. Grey’s Anatomy | ABC | 13.7 million
12. 60 Minutes | CBS | 12.9 million
13. Survivor: Samoa | CBS | 12.1 million
14. CSI: Miami (R) | CBS | 11.5 million
15. Two and a Half Men (R) | CBS | 11.4 million
16. The Amazing Race | CBS | 11.2 million
17. NCIS: Los Angeles (R) | CBS | 11.1 million
18. The Big Bang Theory (R) | CBS | 10.9 million
19. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | ABC | 10.8 million
20. Castle | ABC | 10.0 million
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Exclusive: ‘As the World Turns’ casts Paulina Porizkova
Why Sony decided to leave ‘This Is It’ in theaters through Thanksgiving
Ratings: World Series continues to rule prime time
Box Office Report: ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ makes $101 million worldwide
Comments (1-6) of 6 Add your comment
Amazing that (omitting the World Series) a rerun of NCIS only dropped one spot in the list. Oh, and Castle is #20!
Woot Woot for “Castle!”
DAMN YOU YANKEES!!!!
Way to go Castle!!! I wish ABC would advertise this show more…great show!!
I would be psyched if The Amazing Race could eventually pass Survivor for top rated primetime reality show. Getting closer and closer everyday this week despite being 15 seasons old.
Hooray for “Castle”!
This show definitely needs to be advertised more by ABC. It’s a gem.