World Series TV ratings: Fox knocks it out of the park

Wedneday's spectacular (for Phillies fans) Game 1 of the World Series posted stunning ratings, underscoring the bonanza News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox television network is reaping. Shares of the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and the Fox Business Channel rose 60 cents on Thursday, or 4.43 percent, to $14.14. They've gained 48 percent this year.

According to Nielsen data supplied by Fox Sports, Game 1 between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies averaged a rating of 11 (19.5 million viewers), or about a 29 percent gain from last year's Game 1 between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays. It's also the second-highest Game 1 of the decade and is Fox's best rating for a nondecisive World Series game since 2004. They were a "bit better" than Fox expected, Lou D'Ermilio, a spokesman for Fox Sports, told DailyFinance.