The Week That Was In Worldwide Media - October 12, 2025

On this week's edition on "The Week That Was In Worldwide Media", we breakdown the TV ratings for the ALDS between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees, another TV channel shutdown, this time it's in France, and the 1st phase of the MSNBC rebrand happened this week!

Here's the breakdown of the top 3 stories of what happened this week in worldwide media:

Story #1: ALDS is a ratings hit in Canada

According to Numeris, the 1st game of the ALDS between the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Yankees drew an estimated 2.7 million viewers, with the Blue Jays Central pregame and postgame shows were split at 839,000 and 723,000, respectively.

Games 2 and 3 had viewership steady at 3.2 million viewers, but Game 4 had an estimated viewership of 3.3 million, but in the United States, the 3rd game of the series had an estimated viewership of 4.9 million, but the Game 4 viewership in the United States is unknown at the time of publishing.

The Blue Jays will play in the ALCS for the 1st time since 2016, it all starts Sunday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

Story #2: Game One and J-One latest TV channels to shutter operations

Game One, France's answer to G4, and sister channel J-One are the latest TV channels to wind down operations.

Game One began on September 7, 1998, thanks to the efforts of Infogrames and Canal+. Initially reserved for Canal Satellite members, the channel gradually gained momentum and became part of cable, satellite, and ADSL television packages in the 2000s; it featured cult shows, particularly Level One, where host Marcus - a former editor at Tilt magazine - presented the first level of any game. It wasn't MTV, though; the famous American television channel became a shareholder in early 2003, allowing Game One to refloat itself after a very complicated period, between open conflicts with Marcus and accusations of unethical editorial practices, in the pay of major publishers. In short, life goes on, animes are introduced into the programming schedule to diversify the offerings, until J-One was founded in 2013 to devote itself to the simulcasting of the latest Japanese series.

Paramount's merger with Skydance was the reason the channels were winding down operations.

It is unclear when the channel's programming is moving to other stations.

Story #3: Phase 1 of the MSNBC rebrand has happened

After more than 29 years of association with NBC News, MSNBC is splitting off to establish its own independent newsgathering operation.

As of October 6th, outside of Washington, D.C., operations, MSNBC will no longer rely on NBC News correspondents or crews for coverage. Beginning on Oct. 20, MSNBC will no longer rely on NBC News correspondents or crews for Washington, D.C.-based coverage. And by the end of the month, MSNBC will no longer participate in NBC News-led editorial calls and meetings. It will be fully independent.

But the network will rebrand to MS NOW, and the rebrand won't happen until early 2026.

To compensate for this, the channel reached an agreement with Comcast sister property Sky News to use its resources for international news coverage, and the channel will move to an interim studio at 229 West 43rd Street in New York City sometime in November.

My observations for the week ahead

More MLB postseason action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+

The 2nd season of Monday Night Hockey on Prime Video begins with an afternoon tilt between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, puck drop will be at 2pm Eastern to avoid conflict with the 2nd game of the American League Championship Series, which is a 10 minute walk between Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Centre.

And that concludes this edition of "The Week That Was In Worldwide Media", come back next week where we'll recap the top stories that happened in worldwide media!