Tune in, tune out

Postseason ratings up 28 percent, but Fall Classic third-lowest rated ever

NEW YORK (AP) -- This year's World Series between the Florida Marlins and the New York Yankees finished as the third-lowest rated ever.

The six games posted an average national rating of 12.8 with a 22 share for Fox Sports. The only series with lower averages were the 2000 series when the Yankees beat the New York Mets in five games (12.4/21) and Anaheim's seven-game defeat of San Francisco last season (11.9/20), which was the lowest-rated ever.

Florida's series-clinching 2-0 victory in Game 6 Saturday night garnered a 13.9 national rating with a 25 share, an 18 percent jump over last year.

Game 1 of the series got a 10.9/20; Game 2 a 12.6/20; Game 3 a 12.5/21; Game 4 a 13.6/23; and Game 5 a 13.2/21.

For the entire postseason, Fox averaged a 10.5 rating with an 18 share, the highest since 1995. It was an increase of 28 percent over last year's 8.2/14.

The ratings for the first two rounds this year were also the highest since 1999, helped by a combination of close games and teams from markets with millions of viewers -- New York, Chicago and Boston.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, even if they are not in use. Each rating point represents 1,084,000 homes. The share is the percentage of homes with sets in use.

Fox is in the third year of a six-year, $2.5 billion contract with baseball.