WORLD SERIES GAME 7 A BIG WINNER FOR FOX

The seventh game of the World Series Wednesday night scored strongly for Fox. The game, which saw the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2, attracted an average of 20.17 million viewers, according to preliminary ratings. It also drew a whopping 5.7 rating and a 17 share among the key 18-49 age group. the game peaked in primetime during the 10:00 p.m. half-hour with 21.12 million. (Post-primetime figures have not yet been disclosed.) The final game helped offset the disappointing numbers for the initial five (Game 6 on Tuesday pulled in a preliminary 13.27 million.) Still, it was way off the numbers for some previous Game 7 of the series. In 2011, the finale was watched by 25.4 million, while in 2002 30.8 million did. The game had some strong competition. CBS’s Criminal Minds in the 9:00 p.m. hour drew 10.31 million viewers, while in the same hour ABC’s Modern Family brought in 9.75 million viewers, followed by black-ish with 7.73 million (up 13 percent from the previous week).