Date: 1st November 2000

World Series Lifts Fox To No.1


While last week's coverage of the World Series produced the lowest ratings on record for the series, they nevertheless also produced a rare weekly win for Fox TV in overall audience.

Game 5 of the series -- the final game -- tied for the fourth spot on the Nielsen list, while Game 4 tied for ninth. (On Tuesday, baseball owners approved a new $2.5 billion, six-year television contract with Fox, giving the network exclusive rights to the All-Star and post-season games.) The network was also helped by strong ratings for its new Monday Night show, Boston Public. Overall, Fox posted an 8.9 rating and a 14 share. NBC was close behind with an 8.8/14. CBS finished third with an 8.7/14, while ABC trailed with an 8.0/13.

The top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research:
1. Frasier, NBC, 18.9/28; 2. E.R. NBC, 17.6/28; 3. Friends, NBC, 14.7/24; 4. 60 Minutes, CBS, 13.1/20; 4. World Series Game 5: NY Yankees at NY Mets, Fox, 13.1/21; 4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (Sunday), ABC, 13.1/20; 7. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 13.0/19; 8. Millionaire (Tuesday), ABC, 12.7/19; 9. World Series Game 4, Fox, 12.5/210.; 9. The Practice, ABC, 12.5/21.

Source: Studio Briefing