BOSTON — With the Boston Red Sox back in the World Series, television ratings jumped for the opener.
Boston’s 8-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals drew an 8.6 national rating, a 14 share and 14.4 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday.
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The rating was up 13 percent from the 7.6/12 for San Francisco’s 8-3 victory over Detroit last year, which was a record low for a World Series opener. Wednesday night’s game was seen by 14.4 million viewers, an 18 percent increase from 12.2 million last year and the most-watched Series opener since the Giants’ 11-7 win over Texas in 2010 was seen by 15 million.
Wednesday’s game peaked with 16.9 million viewers during the second inning, when the Red Sox scored twice and took a 5-0 lead.
The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a program, and the share is the percentage tuned to a broadcast among the TV households with sets on at the time.
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