First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
| College basketball | Michigan State/Connecticut | CBS |
7.8
|
7.8
|
| Michigan State’s victory over Connecticut last Saturday was the only Final Four telecast to see an increase in ratings. The 7.8 rating for first National Semifinal was up 8% from a 7.2 for Memphis/UCLA in ’08. | ||||
| College basketball | Villanova/North Carolina | CBS |
9.2
|
8.5
|
| The 8.5 for North Carolina’s penultimate win of the season marked a 3% decline form an 8.8 for Kansas/North Carolina last year. | ||||
| NBA | Spurs/Cavaliers | ABC |
2.0
|
1.9
|
| The Cavaliers’ win over the Spurs drew a 1.9 rating on ABC last Sunday, up 36% from a 1.4 for Warriors/Hornets in ’08. | ||||
| NBA | Suns/Mavericks | ABC |
2.1
|
1.9
|
| The 1.9 for the Mavericks’ trouncing of the Suns last Sunday was off 14% from a 2.2 for the same match-up last year. | ||||
| MLB | Phillies/Braves | ESPN2 |
2.3
|
2.1
|
| Opening night of the baseball season drew smaller numbers on ESPN2. The 2.1 for the Braves’ win over the defending champion Phillies was off 13% from a 2.4 for Braves/Nationals on ESPN last year. | ||||
| College basketball | Louisville/Oklahoma | ESPN |
1.7
|
1.6
|
| The Women’s Final Four did not fare particularly well on ESPN last Sunday. The first National Semifinal, featuring Louisville upsetting Oklahoma, drew a 1.6 U.S. rating, down 11% from a 1.8 for Stanford/Connecticut in ’08. | ||||
| College basketball | Connecticut/Stanford | ESPN |
2.2
|
1.7
|
| The rematch between Connecticut and Stanford in the National Semfinal saw a big decline on ESPN last Sunday night. Connecticut’s win drew a 1.7 U.S. rating, off 29% from a 2.4 for last year’s comparable Tennessee/LSU game. | ||||
| NHL | Wild/Red Wings | NBC |
0.7
|
0.7
|
| While the 0.7 for last Sunday’s Wild/Red Wings game is definitely poor, it still marked a 17% increase from the 0.6 for Blackhawks/Red Wings last year. | ||||
| NASCAR | Samsung 500 | FOX |
4.9
|
4.7
|
| The 4.7 final rating for last Sunday’s Samsung 500 marked a 13% drop from the 5.4 rating the race drew last year. So far this season, all seven NASCAR races on FOX have seen declining ratings. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
| Golf | The Masters, Final Round | 2 PM Sunday | CBS |
8.8
|
| The PGA finally has some ratings momentum, and just in time for its highest rated event. While Tiger Woods is way behind entiring Sunday’s final round of The Masters, viewers may still tune in to see if he can mount another stirring comeback like the one he had at Bay Hill. Last year’s final round drew an 8.6 rating, down from a 9.1 the previous year. Look for a bounceback in ratings this year. | ||||
| NBA | Mavericks/Hornets | 1 PM Sunday | ABC |
1.4
|
| Expect lower ratings for the first game of ABC’s last regular season NBA doubleheader. Last year, two Hornets games on ABC drew ratings of 1.2 and 1.4, respectively — and that was when the team was contending for the top spot in the West. With both the Hornets and Mavericks near the bottom of the West playoff race, look for ratings to dip below the 1.6 for Raptors/Pistons last year. | ||||
| NBA | Celtics/Cavaliers | 3:30 PM Sunday | ABC |
2.1
|
| This battle of East titans figures to lose some of its luster with Kevin Garnett sitting on the bench and the Cavaliers having already wrapped up the top spot in the East. With relatively little at stake, look for ratings to drop from the 2.4 Spurs/Lakers drew last year. | ||||
| MLB | Red Sox/Angels or other regional action | 4:00 PM Saturday | FOX |
2.3
|
| FOX begins its slate of MLB telecasts with a battle between the #2 and #7 markets in the country. While the Red Sox are no Yankees when it comes to being a marquee television attraction, they can still bring in casual fans. Look for ratings to improve slightly over the 2.2 last year’s Mets/Braves opener drew on the network. | ||||
| MLB | Mets/Marlins | 1:00 PM Sunday | TBS |
0.6
|
| Regular season baseball returns to TBS after horrendous ratings last year. While Mets/Marlins may not sound like the most marquee matchup, the Marlins own a perfect 4-0 record. Look for ratings to hold steady with the 0.6 Red Sox/Blue Jays drew in ’08. | ||||
| NHL | Red Wings/Blackhawks | 2:00 PM Sunday | NBC |
0.9
|
| NBC ends its regular season NHL coverage with a rematch of January’s highly rated Winter Classic. Look for this battle of playoff-bound Original Six teams to draw a solid rating. | ||||
