QUICK TAKES - Nov. 4, 2009

What difference does it make having the New York Yankees in the World Series? Plenty, as Fox was able to attest Tuesday with the release of last week’s prime-time television ratings.

The network averaged 19.14 million viewers for the first four games of the baseball championship that pitted New York against the Philadelphia Phillies. Last year, when the Phillies faced off against Tampa Bay, Fox averaged 13.18 million for the first four games.

With three of the games finishing as the most-watched programs of the week, Fox shot to the top of the ratings competition as reported in figures from the Nielsen Co., with CBS second, ABC third and NBC a distant fourth.

The list of ratings will be published in Calendar later this week.