how do they account for people (like me) who switch back and forth so I could watch both

They don't. Nielsen rating are pretty much inaccurate.

Interestingly, Dodgers-Phillies Game 3 lost (badly) in the ratings to the Atlanta-Chicago game in the LA market.

Interestingly, Dodgers-Phillies Game 3 lost (badly) in the ratings to the Atlanta-Chicago game.

That was a terrible baseball game, though, 8-0 early on.

Also, since Vin Scully was doing the game on the radio, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people had both the radio and TV on.

How did the Dodgers-Phillies ratings on TBS compare to Bosox-Rays last year? You'd think they'd be better, since you have two large markets and a defending WS champion, whereas last year you had a defending WS champ vs. a small-market franchise with no tradition and a low profile (though a great story).

P.S. I've heard that supposedly beginning next year, Fox will set Series ad rates only after the participants have been identified. Apparently some advertisers griped last year about overpaying for Phils-Rays. (Don't like the precedent that would set, especially since I don't think it's done for the Stanley Cup or NBA finals, or the Super Bowl. You'd think baseball should be strong enough to stand on its own, even if the "wrong" teams are in the Series.)

I wonder how much ad time Corzine bought up (if any). Seems perfect for him, since he has endless money. Or Bloomberg for that matter...

That's because Joe Buck's mini-TV didn't have a neilsen box.

I had PiP going. Though it was more picture-next-to-picture. It was pretty sweet, until Bradshaw fumbled the damn ball.

This wouldn't have happened if the NFL had a salary cap.

How did the Dodgers-Phillies ratings on TBS compare to Bosox-Rays last year? You'd think they'd be better, since you have two large markets and a defending WS champion, whereas last year you had a defending WS champ vs. a small-market franchise with no tradition and a low profile (though a great story).

I read somewhere that TBS's ratings were up something like 11% over last year's playoffs in the first round and that the first round of playoffs this year got the highest ratings in TBS history (as in, more people watched this year's divisional series than had ever watched anything - baseball or non-baseball - on TBS ever before). What MLB really needs for ratings is for the World Series to last until at least game 6, unlike the last five World Series.

EDIT: Here's a link.

This year's ALCS ratings were up 35% over last year's Fox broadcast of the NLCS.

Here’s a wrinkle for ratings nerds:

On the social status scale, ratings nerds have got to sit even lower than stat geeks. I imagine them longing to move out of the 8X8 bedroom with the awkward shared bathroom and into the luxurious palace that is mom's basement.

This year's ALCS ratings were up 35% over last year's Fox broadcast of the NLCS.

This year's ALCS had Darren Oliver. It's not really a fair fight.

The obvious reason for this is that the Giants haven't called New York home in more than 50 years, thereby lessening their following there.