The World Series was a big ratings hit on television, up 39 percent over last year — which drew the lowest figure ever for the event — and also performed extremely well in St. Louis.

Nielsen Media Research says this year's Series, which ended Wednesday with the Yankees beating the Phillies in six games, was seen in 11.7 percent of the nation's homes, the most since the Cardinals and Red Sox drew a 15.8 figure in 2004. Last year's Rays-Phillies matchup had an 8.4 figure, the worst ever.

Earlier starts this year helped fuel an audience growth after 10 p.m. (St. Louis time). Not counting a game delayed by rain, the contests ended on average at 10:37 p.m, after finishing at 11:03 p.m. the previous two seasons.

Locally, the Series was seen in 13.1 percent homes with a television and on Monday night pummeled ESPN's telecast of the Atlanta-New Orleans NFL game. Baseball was seen in 12.6 percent of area homes, football in 5.7.

RAMS ROAR IN RATINGS

Bad pro football is better than good baseball — or any other sport, for that matter — to St. Louis television viewers this year.

Nielsen Media Research reports that the Rams' first victory of the season, on Sunday against the one-win Lions, drew a higher rating than any World Series game, all Cardinals regular-season contests and is about eight times greater than an average Blues telecast.

Nielsen says 17.8 percent of homes in the market with a TV tuned in to KTVI (Channel 2) for the tangle of the tinkerbells, making it the highest-rated Rams game of the season.

The top Cards game before the playoffs in a season in which they glided to the a division title was 16.3.

— Dan Caesar

BY THE NUMBERS
World Series TV ratings locally (KTVI, Channel 2) and nationally (Fox network) and how St. Louis compared to the overall figure:

Game...STL............Nat...............Diff.
1.............14.5..............11.9...............+21.85%
2.............11.6..............11.7..................-0.01%
3.............10.4...............9.1...............+14.29%
4.............14.5.............13.5.................+7.20%
5.............12.6.............10.6..............+18.89%
6.............14.7.............13.4.................+9.70%
Avg........13.1.............11.7...............+11.97%
Note • Each ratings point represents 1 percent of homes with a TV. Source: Nielsen Media Research.