Finale Gets High Ratings for a Game 4

Boston’s World Series-clinching victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night, which gave the Red Sox their first championship since 1918, drew the highest television ratings for a Game 4 since 1995.

Fox’s telecast of Boston’s 3-0 win at St. Louis was watched in 18.2% of the 109.6 million U.S. households with televisions, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc.

The victory completed a four-game sweep of the best-of-seven series.

Ratings on Fox were 34% higher than for last year’s fourth game between the New York Yankees and Florida Marlins and the highest for a Game 4 since the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves drew 20% of viewers in 1995 on ABC.

This year’s World Series averaged a 15.4% rating, the best since 2001, when the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in seven games.

Still, networks prefer longer series because they can charge more money for commercials in Games 6 and 7, when interest is the greatest. Fox charged an average of $350,000 for a 30-second commercial during this year’s World Series.

Boston had the highest regional rating for Game 4 at 59%, a larger audience than the New England Patriots drew in the area for their Super Bowl victories this year and in 2002.