A review of the articles on this website from April 6 to April 12.
Monday
- They are all witnesses: Cavaliers games have increased dramatically in Cleveland, and the team now leads the NBA in local television ratings.
- On the ice, the playoff-bound Blue Jackets, Blackhawks and Sharks have each drawn near-record ratings locally. Also on the ice, but in a different sport, NBC sees a big increase in ratings for its coverage of the World Figure Skating Championship.
- Overnight ratings: ABC sees a double-digit increase for Spurs/Cavaliers and a double-digit drop for Mavericks/Suns. Meanwhile, NASCAR on FOX has its seventh straight double-digit drop in overnights to open the season.
- Ratings for the Men’s Basketball National Championship Game since 1975.
- A look at ESPN’s new SportsCenter graphics.
- The last PGA event before The Masters sees a 42% jump in overnight ratings.
- More ratings: Solid overnight for MLB Opening Night, a slight increase for Wild/Red Wings, and flat numbers for horse racing’s Santa Anita Derby.
- Most readers on this site predict a rating between 11.0 and 12.9 for the North Carolina/Michigan State national title game.
Tuesday
- The Tar Heels’ victory in the National Championship Game draws an 11.9/19 overnight rating, off 7% from ’08. The game finishes with a 10.8/17 final rating, down 11%, and the lowest ever for the national title game.
- Ratings for the Women’s Basketball National Championship Game since 1999.
- Overnight ratings for a packed sports weekend.
Wednesday
- The first IRL race of the 2009 season draws 233,000 viewers on Versus, down 79% from the ’08 season opener on ESPN2.
- Major League Baseball and FOX are discussing earlier start times for the 2009 World Series.
- The Boston Red Sox’ first game of the season draws a whopping 17.9 rating in Boston, the best ever for a Red Sox opening day game.
Thursday
- The 2009 Final Four averages a 9.0 rating, down from a 9.4 last year, and the lowest rated Final Four since ’03.
- MLB Network announces the addition of a Saturday night package of MLB games.
- Ratings for Opening Day baseball games in several markets.
- A response to Jack Edwards‘ criticism of the lack of NHL highlights on SportsCenter.
- Major League Baseball pitcher Nick Adenhart dies at age 22.
Friday
- Three articles related to the death of Nick Adenhart: one writer remembers a friend who died in the crash, another writes about the spate of drunk driving incidents in sports, and a third notes that steroid abuse has gotten far more attention from the baseball media than drunk driving.
- ABC draws relatively unimpressive numbers for its NBA doubleheader.
- An update on the brand new BottomLine, which mysteriously disappeared from ESPN the day it debuted.
- ESPN draws strong ratings for first round coverage of The Masters.
- College basketball ratings: the 2009 Men’s NCAA Tournament is up from last year, but still the third-lowest rated ever. Meanwhile, ratings drop double-digits for the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
- Game-by-game ratings for every regular-season and postseason (NCAA Tournament and NIT) college basketball game.
- The Boston Bruins draw their highest rating in twelve years.
Saturday
- Ratings drop again for NASCAR on FOX.
- The PGA heads into The Masters with three of the last four tournaments having seen increased raitngs.
- Braves/Phillies on Opening Night sees a double-digit drop in ratings from last year.
- Ratings predictions for a busy weekend in sports.
