-By Anthony Crupi

October baseball propelled TBS to the top of the cable food chain last week, as the first round of Major League Baseball’s division series helped the Turner network amass an average nightly audience of 4.71 million viewers.
 
TBS swept all three major demos, averaging 2.27 million adults 25-54, 2.15 million viewers 18-49 and 950,000 18-34s, according to Nielsen Media Research data for the week ended Oct. 5.
 
In a week dominated by sports and politics, TBS served up its largest audience on Sunday night, delivering 6.2 million viewers with Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Red Sox and Angels. A pinch-hit single by shortstop Erick Aybar in the top of the 12th inning secured a 5-4 victory for the Angels, in a game that delivered clutch demo numbers (3.02 million 25-54s; 2.76 million 18-49s).
 
In Chicago, Game 1 of the Dodgers-Cubs series lured 5.38 million viewers between 6:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. (Oct. 1). In what would mark the beginning of the end of the Cubbies’ 2008 campaign, the Dodgers ran away with the series opener, 7-2, as a national TV audience of 2.5 million 25-54s and 2.49 million 18-49s looked on.
 
TBS not only beat out its cable competition last week, but it also out-delivered ABC in prime in two key sports demos (men 18-49 and men 25-54). The network’s postseason baseball coverage continues this Friday (Oct. 10), with Game 1 of the AL Championship.
 
While baseball has laid claim to the title of “national pastime” for the better part of 140 years, politics has evolved into something of a spectator sport as well. Before the 2008 race, the prospect of watching a televised vice-presidential debate was about as invigorating as being fed by an intravenous drip of Celestial Seasonings’ Sleepytime Tea. Curiosity about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin changed all that, much to the delight of Fox News Channel.

FNC posted the biggest ratings number in its 12-year history, drawing 11.1 million viewers with its presentation of the Oct. 2 vp debate. The 90-minute exchange between Palin and Sen. Joe Biden scared up sizable demo deliveries as well, averaging 3.75 million adults 25-54 and 3.11 million viewers 18-49.
 
All told, the debate helped FNC retain second place on the week, as the net averaged 3.82 million total viewers in prime. FNC also finished the week in fourth place among the core demo, averaging 1.03 million adults 25-54, and took fifth among 18-49s (812,000).
 
FNC televised five of the week’s top 10 most-watched programs on cable last week, including a post-debate edition of On the Record with Greta Van Sustern, which delivered 9.8 million viewers, and a pre-debate installment of The O’Reilly Factor (5.62 million viewers).
 
Back to the sports side of the business, ESPN dropped to third place on the week, averaging 3.02 million viewers, while laying claim to the number-two spot among the three major demos. The network averaged 1.55 million 25-54s, 1.51 million 18-49s and 712,000 18-34s, thanks in large part to the Sept. 29 installment of Monday Night Football.
 
The battle between AFC North rivals Pittsburgh and Baltimore drew 11.8 million viewers, of which 6.55 million were representative of the 18-49 demo. MNF also served up 6.53 million 25-54s and 3.19 million 18-34s.
 
USA Network grabbed fourth place among ad-supported cable nets, averaging 2.66 million total viewers, while taking third among the three major demos. The net put together its best number with viewers 18-49, averaging 1.35 million on the week.
 
Closing out the top five was CNN, which delivered 2.36 million viewers. The news net finished fourth among viewers 18-49 (949,000) and fifth among the core sales demo (936,000).
 
CNN’s Biden-Palin coverage drew 10.7 million viewers Thursday night, good for third place on the week. The debate gave the younger-skewing CNN the week’s second-largest program demos, averaging 5.62 million 18-49s, 4.52 million 25-54s and 3.17 million 18-34s. A special post-debate edition of Anderson Cooper 360 retained 7.96 million viewers in the 10:30 p.m. slot, 4.13 million of whom were part of the 18-49 demo.
 
AC 360 also picked up a significant 18-34 number (2.13 million), while holding on to the lion’s share of viewers in the older demo, as some 3.6 million 25-54s remained tuned in.

Among all basic cable nets, non-ad-supported Disney Channel closed out the week in fourth, delivering 2.52 million prime-time viewers.