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World Series Is A Ratings Hit For FOX

© F. Colin Kingston

The World Series is over and the Anaheim Angels are the champs - never thought I'd be typing those words during my lifetime. That spelled both good and bad news for FOX. The World Series ratings were comparable to the Super Bowl where I live in Southern California. Nationwide, however, it was the lowest rated World Series ever.

The ratings were still good enough to propel FOX to first place in the ratings with an average of 16.3 million viewers. CBS fell to second with 12.6 million viewers; NBC was third with 10.97 million viewers. ABC, ironically the owner of the Angels, was the fourth most watched network with 9.4 million viewers. The WB, lead by "7th Heaven" was fifth with 4.6 million viewers and UPN was sixth with 3.9 million viewers.

Here are the top rated programs for last week as determined by AC Nielson Media Research:

1. World Series, Game 7, FOX, 30.8 million viewers

2. CSI (Thursdays), CBS, 24.97 million viewers

3. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 21.5 million viewers

4. Survivor: Thailand, CBS, 20.9 million viewers

5. CSI Miami, CBS, 18.5 million viewers

6. World Series, Game 4, FOX, 18 million viewers

7. Friends, NBC, 17.1 million viewers

8. World Series, Game 3, FOX, 17 million viewers

9. Still Standing, CBS, 16.6 million viewers

10. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, NBC, 16.5 million viewers

News and notes from the world of television:

Back in the saddle again: The old west comes alive again in "The Outsider," a frontier romance/drama. Based on the novel by Penelope Sokolow, the film stars Tim Daly ("The Fugitive"), Naomi Watts ("Mulholland Drive"), David Carradine ("Kung Fu") and Thomas Curtis ("The Cactus Kid").

Watts plays a young widow who, along with her nine-year-old son, lives in an Amish-like community on the frontier. Daly plays a wounded gunfighter who ends up in Watts' care. The film revolves around their blossoming romance and the reaction of the local community. I'll have a review of the film in next week's column.

Girl's Club is torn down: After just two airings, FOX has cancelled David E. Kelley's new legal drama "Girl's Club." The premiere episode placed 82nd out of 109 programs. The second airing lost a million viewers from the premiere episode so FOX pulled the plug. It becomes the second series, along with ABC's "That Was Then" to be cancelled this season.

The Osbournes are back, almost: MTV has announced that the second season of the "The Osbournes" will premiere on November 26th. The series about the famous rocker and his family became a surprise hit last year and drew record ratings for the former music video channel.

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