Baseball Beats Football in Ratings

NEW YORK (AP) _ The final game of the American League playoffs between the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics on Fox outdrew ``ABC's Monday Night Football'' in overnight ratings. <br><br>The

Tuesday, October 16th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ The final game of the American League playoffs between the New York Yankees and Oakland Athletics on Fox outdrew ``ABC's Monday Night Football'' in overnight ratings.

The Yankees' 5-3 victory to win the first-round series drew a 10.7 rating and a 16 share. The NFL game between two winless teams, the Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys, drew a 10.1 and 16 share.

Fox won the prime-time network ratings race for Monday night. Not surprisingly, it drew its biggest audience in New York, getting a 23.1 rating and 33 share. The No. 2 market was Seattle with a 19.8 and 33. The Mariners will play the Yankees for the American League championship, beginning Wednesday.

The Oakland-San Francisco area brought a 17.6 rating and 27 share for Fox.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use. Overnight ratings measure about 60 percent of the country.

Fox's postseason baseball ratings are 19 percent higher than a year ago for five prime time telecasts. Four of those games involved the Yankees, and the fifth was the deciding game of the National League series between Arizona and St. Louis.