Overnight ratings for sporting events on broadcast.
Football.
14.3/28: NFL on FOX, Cowboys/Browns (4:15 PM Sunday)
13.0/22: Sunday Night Football on NBC, Bears/Colts (8:30 PM Sunday)
11.0/24: NFL on CBS, regional (1 PM Sunday)
7.5/13: The OT on FOX (7:30 PM Sunday)
6.0/13: NFL on FOX, regional (1 PM Sunday)
5.3: Football Night in America on NBC (7:30 PM Sunday)
3.0/8: The NFL Today on CBS (12 PM Sunday)
3.0/8: FOX NFL Sunday (12 PM Sunday)
2.9: College football on ABC, regional (3:30 PM Saturday)
2.7/6: Notre Dame Football on NBC, San Diego State/Notre Dame (3:30 PM Saturday)
1.2: College Football Countdown on ABC (3 PM Saturday)
- NBC: Notre Dame was up and the NFL was down on NBC over the weekend. The 13.0 overnight rating for Bears/Colts was off 4% from a 13.6 for Cowboys/Giants last year. Meanwhile, the 2.7 for Notre Dame/San Diego State on Saturday was up 13% from a 2.4 for NBC’s first Notre Dame telecast last year.
- FOX: Overnight ratings plunged for the early NFL game on FOX, as the 6.0/13 for the 1 PM telecast was off 29% from an 8.4 last year. The late game, featuring Cowboys/Browns, saw a slight increase from a year ago, as the 14.3 overnight marked a 1% improvement from a 14.2 for Bears/Chargers in the same timeslot in ’07. Finally, The OT saw a boost, as the 7.5/13 overnight for the postgame show marked a 7% jump over last year.
- CBS: Thanks to Brett Favre and his New York Jets, CBS drew its best overnight rating for the opening Sunday of the NFL season since 1999. The 11.0 overnight marks a 4% increase from a 10.6 last year.
- ABC: College football did not fare well on ABC over the weekend, as the 2.9 overnight for the network’s lone telecast was off 42% from a 5.0 for the Oregon/Michigan game in the comparable timeslot last year.
Tennis.
4.3/7: U.S. Open on CBS, S. Williams/Jankovic (9 PM Sunday)
3.8/7: U.S. Open on CBS, Murray/Nadal, conclusion (4 PM Sunday)
2.5/5: U.S. Open on CBS, Federer/Murray (5 PM Monday)
2.4/6: U.S. Open on CBS, Murray/Nadal, start (2 PM Saturday)
2.1/5: U.S. Open on CBS, Federer/Djokovic (11 AM Saturday)
- The 4.3 overnight for Serena Williams‘ victory over Jelena Jankovic on Sunday night was up 65% from last year’s Saturday night final, and was the best overnight for the women’s final at the U.S. Open since 2002.
- The conclusion of the Andy Murray/Rafael Nadal semifinal match ended up doing far better in the ratings than the actual men’s final of the U.S. Open, with much of that owing to the fact that Murray/Nadal aired on a Sunday afternoon following the the NFL. Ratings for the Federer/Murray final on Monday were down 41% from last year, with the 2.5 marking the lowest rating for the U.S. Open men’s final since at least 1995.
Golf.
1.2/2: PGA on NBC, BMW Championship, Final Round (2 PM Sunday)
1.1/3: PGA on NBC, BMW Championship, Third Round (12 PM Saturday)
- Golf continues to suffer without Tiger Woods. The 1.2 overnight for the final round of the BMW Championship is down 63% from a 3.2 last year.
Other.
1.5/3: MLB on FOX, regional (3:30 PM Saturday)
0.8: IRL on ABC, Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 (3:30 PM Sunday)
0.4: WNBA on ABC, Silver Stars/Sun (1 PM Sunday)
- Ratings for the finale of the IRL season dropped 20% from a 1.0 in ’07.
