- Viewers were not as enamored with EliteXC the second time around, as CBS drew terrible numbers for its second Saturday Night Fights broadcast. The event drew a 1.7/4 rating and 2.6 million viewers on CBS from 9-11:03 PM Saturday, down 43% and 47% from a 3.0/6 and 4.9 million viewers for the first broadcast on May 31.
- Not surprisingly, the most talked about rivalry in baseball drew good numbers. Yankees/Red Sox drew a 2.8 rating with 4.2 million viewers on ESPN Sunday night, making the game the highest rated, most viewed MLB telecast on the network this season. The game finished #13 for the week on cable, well behind the NASCAR race on ESPN earlier that day.
- Versus averaged 268,000 viewers for its coverage of the recently completed Tour de France, down 22% from the 343,000 viewers for last year’s version. Prime time encore telecasts, including two recap specials, averaged 182,000 viewers. On the positive side, Versus did see an 83% increase among men 18-34 for morning telecasts and an 89% increase in the demo for late night encore telecasts.
Ted Turner, whose cable business transformed TV sports, dies
Ted Turner, the media mogul and team owner whose TBS "SuperStation" helped pave the way the era of cable...
