A weekly feature wherein we contextualize TV ratings for national sports broadcasts. Data via Nielsen and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand. Viewership numbers represent approximate average number of persons tuned to a given program; ratings share refers to the percentage of all households using a television who are turned into that program.
Monday, Oct. 8:
Monday Night Football; Houston Texans at New York Jets (ESPN): 14.0 million viewers
ALDS Game 2; New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles (TBS): 4.2 million viewers
Dancing with the Stars (ABC): 13.6 million viewers
Tuesday, Oct. 9:
ALDS Game 3; Detroit Tigers at Oakland Athletics (TBS): 4.2 million viewers
NCIS (CBS): 18.5 million viewers
Wednesday, Oct. 10:
ALDS Game 3; Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees (TBS): 5.8 million viewers
Modern Family (ABC): 12.3 million viewers
Thursday, Oct. 11:
Thursday Night Football; Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans (NFL Network): 5.7 million viewers
ALDS Game 4; Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees (TBS): 5.1 million viewers
Vice Presidential debate (Fox News Channel): 10.0 million viewers
Vice Presidential debate (MSNBC): 4.4 million viewers
Vice Presidential debate (CNN): 4.1 million viewers
Friday, Oct. 12:
NLDS Game 5; St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals (TBS): 5.9 million viewers
ALDS Game 5; Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees (TBS): 5.1 million viewers
World Cup qualifying; Mexico vs. Guyana (Telemundo): 2.1 million viewers
Dog With a Blog (Disney): 4.5 million viewers
Saturday, Oct. 13:
NASCAR Sprint Cup at Charlotte (ABC): 5.1 million viewers
NCAA football; USC at Washington (Fox): 2.8 million viewers
NCAA football; South Carolina at LSU (ESPN): 6.0 million viewers
ALCS Game 1; Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees (TBS): 6.8 million viewers
48 Hours (CBS): 5.0 million viewers
Sunday, Oct. 14:
Sunday Night Football; Green Bay Packers at Houston Texans (NBC): 19.9 million viewers
NLCS Game 1 pregame show; St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants (Fox): 7.7 million viewers
NLCS Game 1; St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants (Fox): 6.8 million viewers
ALCS Game 2; Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees (TBS): 5.0 million viewers
Walking Dead [season premiere] (AMC): 10.8 million viewers
Red Bull Stratos (Discovery): 4.2 million viewers [Note: more than 8 million people watched the live stream of the event on YouTube.]