- NBA on ABC: Lakers at Suns, 3:30 PM Sunday — Any game involving the Lakers is bound to have a fairly decent rating (the three Laker games on ABC this year have finished with a 3.5, 2.8 and 2.7 rating), and a game against the rival Suns and 2-time defending MVP Steve Nash should do well (especially without a Nextel Cup Race to compete against). However, precedent says that NBA games don’t do very well on the first Sunday of March (games drew a 1.6 and 2.0 in 2006 and a 1.5 and 1.6 in 2005). Prediction: 2.5.
- NCAA on CBS: #14 Duke at #8 North Carolina, 4:00 PM Sunday — The matchup between the #1 and #2 teams in the nation pulled in a decent 2.6 rating last week, but expect Duke/UNC to do even better. In 2005 (the last time they played on CBS), the meeting between the two teams drew a 3.6 rating with an 8 share, blowing away the nearest NBA game on ABC (Pistons/Kings, which drew a 1.6). Prediction: 3.0.
- Arena Football League, 12:30 PM Sunday — Despite decent promotion by ESPN, don’t expect much. Greenberg and Golic might attract some viewers, but the game certainly won’t. Prediction: 0.9.
- NHL on NBC: Regional action, 12:30 PM Sunday — The question for NBC and the NHL is whether or not they can beat the Arena Football League on ABC. Avs/Red Wings isn’t quite the rivalry it was years ago. Prediction: 0.8.
- NASCAR on ESPN: Busch Series race from Mexico, 1:30 PM Sunday — This ESPN Full Circle event has received fairly strong promotion, but expect the numbers for this race to be the lowest ever for a Full Circle event. Prediction: 1.7.
YouTube balks at splitting NFL package with Netflix, broadcast TV back in mix, per Ourand
The twists and turns continue over the NFL's five-game media rights package. Just hours after Alex Sherman of CNBC...
