Super rating lands game in No. 2 spot

By Bill Griffith, Globe Staff, 10/18/2003

Predictions that the local television ratings for Thursday's Game 7 of the American League Championship Series would top the Patriots-Rams Super Bowl numbers from February 2002 proved incorrect . . . but not by much.

Thursday night's climactic Sox-Yankees game did a 52.9 rating (73 audience share) in the Boston market as compared with a 56.1 rating (78 share) for Super Bowl XXXVI. In total numbers of households reached, that Super Bowl remains the most-watched program in Boston, with 1,299,108 households, followed closely by Thursday night's game with 1,265,262.

Thursday's game twice peaked at a 56.6 rating between 10 and 11 p.m., and the share rose to an 81 during the last half-hour of the telecast, which ended at 12:30 a.m. At its peak, 56.6 percent of Boston's TVs were tuned to the game.

In addition, the game did a 46.8 rating in the hard-to-reach male 25-54 demographic.

Nationally, the game drew a 17.1 rating and 28 share, the highest rating for an LCS game on Fox since 1993. The combined average for this year's two series was 10.7, a 65 percent increase over last season's LCS ratings.

Those numbers have ramifications beyond sports.

"Last week, we won the [ratings] week in all key demos. It's the first time ever the LCS did that," said Fox Sports president Ed Goren. "Now, we're going to win again this week [the ratings week ends Sunday], and then next week with the World Series. We're giving our prime-time lineup a ratings lead going into the November sweeps. That hasn't happened before and it certainly feels good this time around."

In New York, Thursday's game did a 34.4 rating (49 share). Providence did a 42.3 (55) and Hartford a 36.9 (54) to rank second and third behind Boston among the 55 national metered markets.

Going against the Sox game Thursday night, the CBS lineup in Boston from 8-10 p.m. on Channel 4 -- Survivor (10.2) and CSI (8.9) -- posted strong numbers, reflecting strong viewership among females, 25-54.

In Boston, the five-game AL Division Series averaged a 25.1 rating (46 share) and the seven-game ALCS averaged a 40.2 rating (62 share). Overall, for 12 postseason games, Boston did a 33.9 rating (56 share). . . .

In 1986, during the fateful Game 6 of the World Series between the Mets and Red Sox, the Shea Stadium scoreboard momentarily congratulated the Red Sox on winning the World Series. The Mets went on to win the Series in seven games.

Yesterday morning, some 200,000 copies of the New York Post carried an editorial congratulating the Sox on making it to the World Series under the headline, "A Curse of Their Own?" directed at the Yankees.

Some excerpts: "Looks like The Curse of the Bambino boomeranged this year." . . . "It's a crying shame that Roger Clemens' career had to end on a losing note." . . . "But give credit where it's due: The Sox provided the heroics where they were needed." . . . and, best of all, "Wait'll next year!"

Officials said what was obvious: Two editorials had been prepared and the wrong page was sent to the presses.

A correction will run today . . .. unfortunately for Red Sox fans.