Rays Games Capture 43 Percent Of Tampa Bay Sets For Game 2

The second game of the World Series was tuned to WTVT FOX 13 in 43 percent of the Tampa Bay television sets in use during the broadcast window, according to ratings data released Thursday. That share marks the high point for the local market as the Rays pursue the championship.

Household ratings for the first two games of the series stood at 12.1 for Game 1 and 11.8 for Game 2. A household rating measures the percentage of all television households in a designated market tuned to a program. Share measures the percentage of sets in use at the time that were watching the broadcast. The 41 share for Game 1 and 43 share for Game 2 mean roughly four in ten households watching television at the time were on FOX 13's coverage.

A rating of this level gives broadcasters and Major League Baseball a concentrated local audience during the championship window. For comparison, the Tampa-St. Petersburg market averaged a 15.2 household rating across the 2020 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Game 6 of that series also posted a 15.2 rating.

Rays coverage in the current series reaches beyond the Tampa Bay market. WOFL FOX 35 carries the games in Orlando and WFTX FOX 4 carries them in the Fort Myers-Naples area. Viewership in both of those markets has shown strong numbers for the first three games of the series.

The national broadcasts drew a larger audience than the local market. Game 1 averaged more than 12 million viewers nationally, and Game 2 averaged nearly 11 million. Both games ranked as the most-watched broadcasts on their respective nights.

Rays games are carried on local television platforms and through streaming distribution during the regular season, which gives fans regular access to the club. Postseason ratings are not a measure of regular-season viewership, and year-over-year comparisons are affected by shifts in how audiences watch television. The figures for the current series and the 2020 series are the available points of comparison.

Advertisers, broadcasters and Major League Baseball look at ratings and share together when setting prices for inventory. A 43 share means the broadcast held that portion of the sets in use at the time of Game 2.