Fox moves into first place for season; tops Sunday

It's looking like a very early spring for Fox.

Sunday night's deciding Game 6 of the ALCS baseball playoffs did more than help the network win the night.

Fox has also moved into first place for the season in the adult demo -- months before the network typically takes the lead.

Fox has won the past five broadcast seasons by starting sluggish in the fall, then surging into the top spot sometime after the start of "American Idol" in January.

If the network maintains its current lead (and that is by no means certain), it will turn Fox into something the network has never been before: the year-around broadcast leader.

In 2004, Fox briefly hit #1 in the fall due to Yankees vs. Red Sox excitement, then slumped back down until weeks after "Idol" returned. This time, the network has a better shot at holding its lead.

In addition to stronger-than-usual baseball playoffs, Fox's fall has been boosted by pushing popular scripted dramas ("Bones," "Fringe") into competitive Thursdays; shifting summer hit "So You Think You Can Dance" into the fall and pairing it with its Wednesday freshman breakout series "Glee," and the network's Sunday night animated block receiving a boost by the new "Family Guy" spinoff "Cleveland."

The newfound fall momentum is particularly a victory for Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, who was pushed out of his post at fourth-place NBC two years ago and has since helped Fox strengthen its scripted assets by developing and launching "Glee," "Fringe" and "Cleveland."

Fox is averaging a 3.3 rating among adults 18-49 so far this season, followed by CBS (3.3), ABC (3.0), NBC (2.7) and The CW (1.1).

Last night's Yankees victory was seen by 15.5 million viewers and received a 5.2 adults 18-49, the highest-rated ALCS game in two years. Fox was aided further by some overrun of an NFL game into primetime.

NBC was a close second for the evening with "Sunday Night Football" (12.8 million, 5.2) and its pre-game show, with final numbers unavailable until this afternoon. 

In third, ABC was on par with "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (10.6 million, 2.9), "Desperate Housewives" (13.8 million, 4.6) and "Brothers & Sisters" (10 million, 3.3).  

CBS' Sunday lineup was was, for once, not pushed off-schedule by sports. Yet "Amazing Race" (11 million, 3.2) continues to provide a launching pad that's fumbled by "Three Rivers" (8 million, 1.8) and a season-low "Cold Case" (8.8 million, 1.7).