By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --The Chicago Cubs’ thrilling World Series victory dominated television last week, with the 40.5 million people who watched the Game 7 contest with the Cleveland Indians representing the most-watched Fall Classic game since 1991.
The World Series matchup proved to be a boon for Fox, the network that carried the games, because it went the distance.
Fox averaged 12.3 million viewers in prime time. CBS finished second with an average of 8.7 million, NBC had 6.9 million, ABC had 6.1 million, Telemundo had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.6 million, the CW had 1.4 million and ION Television had 1.1 million.
Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 3.1 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 2.31 million, Hallmark had 1.91 million, MSNBC had 1.64 million and USA had 1.36 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.1 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.5 million.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Oct. 31-Nov. 6. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. World Series Game 7: Chicago at Cleveland, Fox, 40.05 million.
2. World Series Game 6: Chicago at Cleveland, Fox, 23.4 million.
3. NFL Football: Denver at Oakland, NBC, 18.33 million.
4. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 14.18 million.
5. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 14.05 million.
6. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 13.96 million.
7. “CMA Awards,” ABC, 12.5 million.
8. “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 11.72 million.
9. NFL Football: Minnesota at Chicago, ESPN, 10.48 million.
10. “NCIS,” CBS, 10.45 million.
11. “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC, 10.39 million.
12. College Football: Alabama at LSU, 10.385 million.
13. “NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, 10.26 million.
14. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 10.13 million.
15. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 9.76 million.
16. “Hawaii Five-O,” CBS, 9.477 million.
17. “The Voice” (Monday), NBC, 9.475 million
18. “This is Us,” NBC, 8.48 million.
19. “Madam Secretary,” CBS, 8.24 million.
20. “The Great Indoors,” CBS, 8.06 million.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More