A review of the articles on this website from February 2 to February 8.
Monday
- The Steelers’ win over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII drew a 42.1 overnight, off 6% from a 44.7 for Giants/Patriots last year. Pittsburgh was the highest rated market, while Phoenix finished #9 — behind Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cleveland and Tampa.
- Technical difficulties during the big game: viewers in Tucson went from watching a Cardinals touchdown to explicit adult programming. Meanwhile, the audio went out during a portion of NBC’s much hyped pre-game interview with President Barack Obama.
- Most readers of this site gave NBC a “B” for its coverage of Super Bowl XLIII.
Tuesday
- Despite an earlier start and countless analysts, ratings for NBC’s Super Bowl Pre-Game dropped from last year’s pre-game on FOX.
- Opposite NBC’s Super Bowl Pre-Game, ABC saw its overnight ratings jump double-digits for its Cavaliers/Pistons NBA game.
- Bob Costas signs on to join MLB Network. Costas will host his own show, as well as other original programming, and will be the play-by-play voice of select live telecasts on the network. As a result, Costas will leave HBO.
- Super Bowl XLIII drew 98.7 million viewers, the most viewers ever for the Super Bowl, and the second-most viewers for any television program in U.S. history.
Wednesday
- Overnight ratings for sporting events on Super Bowl weekend.
- Joe Torre‘s book about his time with the New York Yankees has been a hot topic, as the former Yankee manager has had interviews with everyone from Hannah Storm to Larry King. But most readers on this site couldn’t care less about the controversy.
- Super Bowl XLIII had the most female viewers of any television program in the past fifteen years.
- Australian Open ratings: With a move from late Friday night to early Saturday morning, the ratings for the Williams/Safina women’s final were down 67% from ’08. Meanwhile, the five-set Nadal/Federer men’s final was up 50% from last year’s comparable match.
Thursday
- With Bob Costas leaving for MLB Network, HBO snatches up FOX Sports announcer Joe Buck to replace him.
Friday
- The back-to-back stellar performances by Kobe Bryant and LeBron James at Madison Square Garden helped boost the New York Knicks’ television ratings.
- Kellogg is cutting ties with Michael Phelps in the wake of the swimmer’s marijuana controversy.
- The PGA Tour returned to broadcast for the first time in 2009, and ratings continued to plunge. The 1.3 rating for the final round of the FBR Open was down 43% from last year.
- The second meeting of the year between the Lakers and Celtics drew strong numbers on TNT. The Lakers’ win drew a 2.7 rating and 4.3 million viewers, making it the most viewed regular season NBA game on cable since 2004, and the most viewed on TNT since 1996.
Saturday
- A-Rod steroids bombshell: Sports Illustrated reports that Alex Rodriguez failed a steroids test in 2003. Some reactions from pundits on television. Also, a look at how the major websites handled the story. One of the reporters to break the story, SI’s Selena Roberts, made the rounds. Finally, Rodriguez denying steroid use to CBS News anchor Katie Couric in late 2007.
- Ratings predictions for a jam packed sports weekend.
Sunday
- Charles Barkley talks to reporters about his drunk driving arrest and Michael Phelps‘ marijuana controversy.
- Big names: ESPN’s Jamal Anderson arrested for drugs, ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt suspended for trashing Bud Selig, and The Golf Channel’s Andrew Magee suspended for a dirty joke.
