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With the Yanks in,
a better World Series

Matchup with Phillies is sure to top stinker ratings

By Toni Fitzgerald
Oct 27, 2009

Fox is getting half the World Series matchup it wanted, and definitely the more important half.

The New York Yankees clinched their first Series appearance since 2003 Sunday, boosting ratings for Fox's playoff coverage by more than a third along the way.

They will face the Philadelphia Phillies, who won a five-game National League Championship Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers last week, in a World Series that begins tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in New York.

Fox had to be hoping for a Yankees-Dodgers matchup. The Yanks hail from the country's No. 1 TV market, and the Dodgers hail from the No. 2, not to mention the fact that Philadelphia played in the least-watched World Series ever last year.

Still, the Yankees remain the top postseason draw, so it was more important that they make the World Series than the Dodgers. That should ensure that Fox sees a year-to-year viewing uptick for only the third time in the past six years.

Last year's series averaged 13.6 million total viewers, off 14 percent from the previous record low of 15.8 million for the St. Louis Cardinals-Detroit Tigers series in 2006.

The 2008 series averaged an 8.4 household rating and 14 share, down 17 percent from the 2006 series’ 10.1/17, though it was hurt by terrible weather conditions. One game endured a two-hour weather delay and another was suspended midway through, the first time that's ever happened.

Too, the Tampa Bay Rays, a 10-year-old expansion team with virtually no national fan base, played in last year's series.

This year ratings should rebound, based mostly on strong interest in the Yankees shown during the American League Championship Series.

Game six of the ALCS, in which the Yanks beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-2, posted Fox's best numbers for any non-game seven LCS contest since 2004, averaging 15.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.

The six-game ALCS averaged a 6.5 household rating, up 35 percent over the 4.8 that Fox averaged for last year's five-game National League Championship Series between the Phillies and Dodgers.

TBS carried this year's NLCS; TBS and Fox trade leagues each year.

The World Series will continue Thursday with game two, then switch to Philly for the next three games, starting on Saturday.

Toni Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.	© 2009 Media Life Magazine

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