FS1 on Saturday night earned a 4.9 overnight rating for the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Brewers in Game 7 of the NLCS, down 31% from a 7.1 for the net’s coverage of Astros-Yankees ALCS Game 7 last year in the same window. Before ’17, the last LCS Game 7 was Giants-Cardinals in ’12 on Fox, which drew a 5.9 overnight on a Monday night, with head-to-head competition from “MNF” and a presidential debate. Dodgers-Brewers Game 7 did lead FS1 to a win in primetime. The game drew a 15.9 rating in the L.A. market, marking the highest-rated MLB telecast there on cable since ’98. The 15.9 locally also was up 20% from the Dodgers’ Game 5 NLCS clincher over the Cubs last year (13.3 overnight). Milwaukee drew a 30.7 local rating for the game, marking the second-highest-rated MLB game ever in the market ( Josh Carpenter, THE DAILY ).
SHOWING HIS TRUE COLORS : In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote David Ortiz was "running the show" on FS1's pregame studio coverage during the LCS, as he was allowed to "root so openly" for the Red Sox. While there would have been a time "when Ortiz's antics would have been considered unprofessional," that time has "come and gone at Fox." He has "turned into nothing more than a cartoon character." Elsewhere on the show, Alex Rodriguez is "too scripted," while Frank Thomas is "not having much of a series." Studio host Kevin Burkhardt has a "likeable smoothness," but the fact that he "cannot control Papi ... is a blight on the broadcast" ( N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/21 ).
