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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 2:33 p.m., Sunday, October 26, 2008

MLB: Late-starting Game 3 draws record-low TV rating

Associated Press

NEW YORK — With a 91-minute rain delay pushing the first pitch until after 10 p.m. on the East Coast, Game 3 of the World Series drew a record-low television rating.

The Philadelphia Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, which ended at 1:47 a.m. Sunday, earned a 6.1 fast national rating and 13 share on Fox, the network said.

The previous low was an 8.0 in 2006 for Game 1 of the Cardinals-Tigers series.

The game averaged a 6.5/13 from 11 p.m.-midnight EDT, slid to 6.0/14 for the next hour, then rose to a 6.3/17 after 1 a.m.

The game drew a 28.2/49 in Philadelphia and a 21.6/44 in Tampa. With most of the game in prime time on the West Coast, some of the best ratings outside the home markets came there, including a 9.7/19 in Seattle and a 9.2/20 in San Francisco.

Through three games, the World Series is averaging a 7.7/14, down 23 percent from last year's 10.0/17 for Red Sox-Rockies.

The rating is the percentage watching a program among homes with televisions, and the share is the percentage tuned into the broadcast among those households with TVs on at the time.