A review of the articles on this website from January 12 to January 18.
Monday
- Overnight ratings dropped for all four NFL Divisional Round games last weekend. Saturday’s Ravens/Titans and Cardinals/Panthers games drew the two lowest overnights of any Divisional Round games since ’05. Meanwhile, overnight ratings were down slightly for Eagles/Giants, and off 17% for Chargers/Steelers.
- T-Mobile pulls its ad campaign featuring Charles Barkley, in the wake of the former NBA star’s DUI arrest in December.
- Ratings notes: the NHL Winter Classic is the most watched regular season NHL game since 1975. Meanwhile, ratings for Cleveland Cavaliers telecasts are up significantly from last season. Finally, ratings for San Diego Chargers telecasts were up during the ’08 season — in Los Angeles.
Tuesday
- Newsmakers: Part time FOX Sports statistician Joseph Band, accused of improperly arranging for U.S. Marshals to transport Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Tim McCarver to events. Vin Scully, named the best sportscaster of all time by the American Sportscasters Assocation. Finally, Bobby Knight and Billy Packer, set to take part in a series of NCAA Tournament shows on FSN.
- NBC Super Bowl coverage: the network’s pregame show for Super Bowl XLIII will start at 1 PM, an hour earlier than last year’s pregame on FOX. Meanwhile, the network has added Matt Millen (studio analyst) and Alex Flanagan (sideline reporter) to its roster for the game.
- NFL ad inventory is still selling well. As of early last week, FOX and CBS had a combined three spots available for coverage of the NFL Conference Championship Games. Meanwhile, NBC has sold out almost 90% of its inventory for Super Bowl XLIII.
Wednesday
- With Charles Barkley beginning his leave of absence, TNT turns to Chris Webber and Mike Fratello to round out its studio team — at least for one Thursday.
Thursday
- Final ratings for NFL Divisional games: Cardinals/Panthers draws a 13.8, down 23% and the lowest rating for a Divisional Round game in eight years. Meanwhile, Ravens/Titans draws a 15.4 (down 9%), Eagles/Giants draws an 18.7 (down 8%), and Chargers/Steelers puts up a 19.6 (down 17%).
- Overall, NFL Divisional Round games averaged a 16.9 rating, down 14% from last year, and the lowest average for the Divisional Round of the playoffs since 2001.
- NBA ratings: ESPN is averaging a 1.2 U.S. rating and 1.7 million viewers for NBA coverage, up 9% and 21% from last year. The numbers for the Heat/Nuggets game on January 7, famously analyzed by Dick Vitale, were a below average 1.1 with 1.5 million.
Friday
- EJ and Kenny on Charles. EJ: “[T]here are times you’d like to rear back and give him a kick in the butt, which is one of those times right now. But also we support him every step of the way.” Kenny: “[Charles is] bigger than this, and it’s the time now for him to get to this moment and grow.”
Saturday
- Ratings predictions for NFL Championship weekend.
- NCAA President Myles Brand has pancreatic cancer, and the long-term prognosis is “not good.”
- Random items: The CBC drops its Toronto Blue Jays telecasts, ESPN2 debuts new music and graphics for its tennis telecasts, and NHL attendance is not only up, but surpassing the NBA.
- SportsCenter’s itinerary: start the Mt. Rushmore of Sports series, look back at Notre Dame/UCLA in ’74, and provide coverage of Barack Obama‘s inauguration — all in the span of three days.
Sunday
