World Series Helps Fox Score A Ratings Home Run

FRAZIER MOORE

NEW YORK (AP) — The World Series gave the Fox network world-class ratings last week as the New York Yankees squared off against the Philadelphia Phillies in four much-watched games.

Fox can thank baseball for a huge average audience of 14.69 million viewers (8.8 rating, 14 share).

Game 4 was the most-watched program in prime time, followed by Game 1, Game 2 and Fox's pre-game show for Game 4, according to Nielsen Co.

But other networks weren't sleeping. ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" ranked fifth for the week, and CBS' scripted dramas "NCIS," ''The Mentalist" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" helped round out the Top 10.

Fox's Game 3 of the World Series ranked ninth.

The first four games, averaging 19 million viewers, far outpaced Fox's 13 million average viewership in 2008 for the first four games of the World Series pitting the Phillies against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Well behind Fox last week but still strong, CBS averaged 9.84 million viewers (6.2 rating, 10 share). ABC was right behind with 9.45 million (6.0 rating, 10 share). NBC had 5.59 million (3.5 rating, 6 share), the CW had 2.24 million (1.4 rating, 2 share) and ION Television had 870,000 (0.6 rating, 1 share).