This Just In...

WORLD SERIES GAME 7 IS BEST METERED MARKET RATING SINCE 2001

Historic Game 7 Projects To Be Most-Watched Telecast Since Super Bowl 50

Cleveland - At last. After enduring a wait that lasted 108 years, the Chicago Cubs and their fans are World Champions. One of the most exceptional Major League Baseball games of the modern era, a historic, tension-filled night from Progressive Field in Cleveland, World Series Game 7 between the Cubs and Cleveland Indians delivered a remarkable 25.2/40 overnight rating/share, according to Nielsen Media Research. Wednesday night's 25.2/40 overnight is the best-metered market rating since World Series Game 7 in 2001 between the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks (27.0/38) and projects to be the most-watched telecast to have aired on a single network since Super Bowl 50 last February.

World Series Game 7 showed a +66% increase over 2014 (vs.15.2/24; San Francisco Giants vs. Kansas City Royals), the last time the Fall Classic went the distance and projects to be FOX's best Wednesday night in primetime since January of 2007. The game is also on track to be FOX's highest-rated telecast of any kind since the NFC Championship in January of this year (29.1/52).

Over seven games, the World Series on FOX averaged a 14.9/25 in the metered markets and ranks as the best average for a World Series since 2004's 17.3/26 (Boston Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals - four game sweep). The metered market average for the 2016 World Series delivered a +64% increase over 2014 (vs. 9.1/14) and is up +48% over last year's World Series between the New York Mets and Kansas City Royals, which ended in five games (vs. 10.1/17).

Chicago led all markets by delivering a massive 51.2/71 overnight rating/share, its best rating for an MLB telecast on record, while the Cleveland market posted a remarkable 48.6/69.

Fast Nationals have been ordered for last night's Game 7 and will be made available later today.

This Just In...

WORLD SERIES GAME 7 AVERAGES OVER 40 MILLION VIEWERS

Marks Most-Watched Baseball Game in 25 Years & Most-Watched Baseball Telecast in FOX Sports' History

Cleveland - In what will go down as one of the greatest baseball games ever played, the 2016 Chicago Cubs closed the book on the franchise's 108-year championship drought with a thrilling 8-7, extra-inning victory over the Cleveland Indians in Game 7 of the World Series, Wednesday night on FOX. The World Series-clinching triumph placed an emphatic exclamation point on a playoff run that captivated the nation and marked the summit of a memorable Major League Baseball postseason that produced impressive audience figures through each of its four rounds. According to data released by Nielsen Media Research, World Series Game 7 delivered a massive 21.8/37 household rating/share with 40.045 million viewers.

Remarkably, last night's telecast is now the most-watched baseball game of any kind since Game 7 of the 1991 World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins (50.3 million viewers) and ranks as the most-watched baseball telecast in FOX Sports' history.

Compared to World Series Game 7 in 2014 between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals, last night's game showed a +70% gain on average audience (40.0 million vs. 23.5 million) and a +58% increase in household rating (vs. 13.7/22).

As the intensity and drama grew throughout the deciding, winner-take-all contest, so too did the audience, peaking with a 27.1/48 household rating with 49.9 million viewers between 11:30 PM - 11:45 PM ET.

World Series Game 7 on Wednesday night also outperformed 2014's Game 7 by a wide margin in all of the key male demographics, including M12-17 (+83%; 7.7 vs. 4.2), M18-34 (+81%; 12.5 vs. 6.9), M18-49 (+75%; 14.9 vs. 8.5), and M25-54 (+72%; 16.7 vs. 9.7). In A18-49, Game 7 is up +91% compared to 2014 (12.6 vs. 6.6).

As of last night, FOX is now the No. 1 network among A18-49 this season, with the 2016 World Series ranking as the No. 1 primetime program in all of television (LSD). Last night's contest projects to be FOX's best Wednesday night ever in primetime.

2016 World Series - Game 7 Highlights

- FOX Sports estimates that more than 75 million viewers tuned in to see all-or-part of the Cubs' dramatic Game 7 victory on Wednesday night.

- Game 7 netted a 21.8/37 rating/share and an average audience of 40.045 million viewers.

- Between FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX Sports GO, World Series Game 7 delivered a combined average of 40.9 million viewers.

- Marked FOX's highest-rated and most-watched telecast of any kind since the NFC Championship in January 2016.

2016 World Series - Seven-Game Totals

- Combining average audiences for each of the seven games, more than 115 million viewers watched all-or-part of the 2016 World Series on FOX and FOX Deportes.

- The 2016 World Series on FOX averaged an astounding 13.1/23 rating/share and 23.4 million viewers, ranking as the highest-rated and most-watched World Series since 2004's 15.8/26 and 25.4 million viewers for the Boston Red Sox-St. Louis Cardinals series (four games).

- Compared to the 2014 World Series that also went a full seven games, the 2016 Fall Classic showed a +60% increase over 2014's average rating/share (13.1/23 vs. 8.2/14) and a +70% gain in average audience (23.4 million viewers vs. 13.8 million viewers).

- This year's World Series audience also delivered significant increases among younger viewers, including males 12-17, a demographic that produced a +105% increase over last year's performance (3.9 vs. 1.9) and was Fox's best rating in the demo during the World Series since 2007 (4.0).

- Game-by-game ratings/shares and audience average figures for this year's World Series are as follows:

Rating/Share Avg. Audience (Million Viewers)
Game 1 11.3/20 19.4 M
Game 2 10.2/18 17.4 M
Game 3 11.0/20 19.4 M
Game 4 9.3/18 16.7 M
Game 5 13.1/21 23.6 M
Game 6 13.3/23 23.4 M
Game 7 21.8/37 40.0 M

FOX Deportes

- Wednesday night's Game 7 on FOX Deportes averaged 565,000 viewers, the most-watched baseball game and most-watched non-soccer sporting event in Spanish language sports network history. That figures also marks a +51% increase over World Series Game 7 in 2014 (vs. 373,000 viewers).

FOX Sports GO

- On the digital front, FOX Sports GO added an average minute audience of 343,865 viewers for last night's telecast, according to Adobe Analytics, a new record average minute audience for an authenticated event.