KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 14: Johnny Cueto #47 of the Kansas City Royals throws a pitch in the first inning against the Houston Astros during game five of the American League Divison Series at Kauffman Stadium on October 14, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

2015 ALCS Game 1 Is Highest-Rated LCS Telecast Since 2013

MLB 10/17/2015

The 2015 American League Championship Series got underway last night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City as the hometown Royals blanked the Toronto Blue Jays, who were limited to just three hits, 5-0 in Game 1.

The game posted a 4.0/8 household rating/share with 6.5 million viewers, up +29% in rating and +30% in audience compared to the FOX/FS1 telecast of NLCS Game 1 last year (3.1/6, 5.0 million combined) between the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, and out-rated every LCS game played a year ago, according to fast national figures releases today by Nielsen. See below for additional highlights:

ALCS Game 1 Highlights:
– In addition to household gains, ALCS Game 1 also saw significant gains across several key demographics compared to 2014 NLCS Game 1: Men 18-34, +21% (1.7 vs. 1.4); M18-49, +50% (2.4 vs. 1.6); M25-54, +47% (2.8 vs. 1.9); Adults 18-49, +42% (1.7 vs. 1.2).

– FOX is projected to rank as the top-rated broadcast network for the night among Adults 18-49.

– Last night projects to be FOX’s best Friday in primetime households since 2014 World Series Game 3.

– The audience for Game 1 opened at 4.6 million at 8:04 PM ET and peaked with at 7.9 million viewers between 10:00-10:15 PM ET.

– Locally, Kansas City led all markets with a remarkable 41.3 rating, followed by St. Louis (8.1), Hartford (6.3), Boston (5.8), Ft. Myers (5.6), Las Vegas & Tulsa (5.5). Canadian markets are not measured by Nielsen.

– FOX/FS1’s nine MLB Postseason games have generated 18.3 Gross Rating Points, +21% more than compiled through the first LCS telecast a year ago on FOX/FS1 (15.1 GRP’s).