Entertainment

Baseball’s back

THE World Series has returned as a TV event after years of striking out with viewers.

Wednesday night’s series opener in The Bronx drew nearly 20 million viewers — football-type numbers that the Fall Classic has not seen in years.

Much of the success is due to the fact that two old-line, big-city teams — the Yanks and Phillies — are squaring off, says industry analyst Brad Adgate.

“It’s a little surprising the audience was that big for Game 1,” says Adgate, senior VP/research for Horizon Media. “Those numbers are extraordinary.”

The Phillies 6-1 victory Wednesday night drew the biggest Game 1 audience since the 2004 World Series (Red Sox-Cards) — and was up more than a third over last year’s Game 1 (Phils-Rays).

A big part of the series ratings struggles in recent years can be traced to the lack of a “Big Game” focus.

“The Super Bowl is just one game, but they’ve been able to create such a big marketing event around it,” says Adgate.

“That hasn’t happened with baseball, which is an ongoing entity — like a soap opera or a reality series. It’s not a one-time-only event.”

Last year’s World Series, in fact, was the lowest-rated in history, averaging 13.7 million viewers over five games.

It is hard to remember that there was a time when the World Series was one of TV’s biggest draws — and that other networks put on reruns rather than try to compete with it.

But this year, the baseball playoffs are bringing in big audiences.

Last Sunday, the game that clinched the American League championship for the Yanks had a bigger rating than a Giants football game on NBC — the first time anyone can recall a baseball game outdrawing the NFL in primetime.

“I would say, yes, baseball is back regarding the World Series,” Adgate says. “If this year’s series goes six games or longer, they could be getting 20-million-plus viewers a night.”

Also, for the first time in years, Fox has been starting the game a half-hour earlier, “so people could stay up and watch more of the game,” he says. “That’s a contributing reason for the numbers.

“And clearly the two best teams are playing,” says Adgate.