First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBA | Lakers/Nuggets Game 3 | ABC | 4.2 |
5.4
|
| ABC’s lone telecast in the Conference Finals drew a 5.4 rating last Saturday night, up 46% in ratings from last year’s comparable Celtics/Pistons tilt, and the seventh-highest rated NBA Playoff game on ABC since the net began airing games in ’03. | ||||
| NBA | Cavaliers/Magic Game 3 | TNT | 4.8 |
5.4
|
| The 5.4 U.S. rating for last Sunday’s Cavaliers/Magic Game 3 was up 46% from a 3.7 for Lakers/Spurs Game 3 last year. At the time, the 5.4 was the highest for an NBA Playoff game on cable in four years, but Games 4 and 5 of both Cavaliers/Magic and Lakers/Nuggets have since surpassed that number. | ||||
| NBA | Lakers/Nuggets Game 4 | ESPN | 5.2 |
5.9
|
| ESPN drew a 5.9 U.S. rating for Lakers/Nuggets Game 4 on Memorial Day, up 48% from a 4.0 for Celtics/Pistons ’08, and the highest rated NBA Playoff game ever on ESPN to that point. With Game 5 drawing a 5.6 rating and Game 6 being an uncompetitive blowout, there is a possibility that Game 4 will finish as the highest rated game of the West Finals. | ||||
| IRL | Indianapolis 500 | ABC | 4.5 |
4.0
|
| The 4.0 rating for last Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 was off 13% from last year’s 4.3, and marks the lowest rating for the crown jewel of the IRL season since at least 1973. | ||||
| NASCAR | Coca Cola 600 | FOX | 4.2 |
N/A
|
| Final ratings for the Coca Cola 600, which was rained out on Sunday and run on Monday, are not yet available. | ||||
| NHL | Red Wings/Blackhawks Game 4 | NBC | 1.7 |
1.3
|
| The 1.3 rating for last Sunday’s blowout Game 4 between the Red Wings and Blackhawks was off 19% from a 1.6 for Game 1 the previous week. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBA | Cavaliers/Magic Game 6 | 8:30 PM Saturday | TNT |
6.7
|
| Will the NBA’s run of record high ratings on cable continue Saturday night? Games 4 of Magic/Cavaliers ranks as the highest rated NBA Playoff game ever on cable, and Game 5 finished in a tie for second. While Saturday nights are not usually conducive to big ratings, the NBA has bucked that trend this year: the highest rated, most viewed first round game ever aired on a Saturday night, as did ABC’s highest rated, most viewed Conference Final game. Last year, Celtics/Pistons Game 6 drew a 4.2 U.S. rating on ESPN. | ||||
| NHL | Penguins/Red Wings Game 1 | 8 PM Saturday | NBC |
2.4
|
| The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals begin on NBC Saturday night, the first time a broadcast network has aired the opener of the Finals since ’99. More than likely, NBC will draw the best rating for a Game 1 in the Stanley Cup Finals since at least ’02, when ESPN drew a 2.3 U.S. rating for Hurricanes/Red Wings. Last year, NBC’s first Stanley Cup Finals telecast (Red Wings/Penguins Game 3) drew a 2.4 on a Wednesday night. | ||||
| NHL | Penguins/Red Wings Game 2 | 8 PM Sunday | NBC |
2.9
|
| For the first time since returning to broadcast in ’95, the Stanley Cup Finals will air on a Sunday night. With no competition from what would have been Nuggets/Lakers Game 7 on ABC, look for NBC to put up relatively strong numbers. | ||||
| NASCAR | Autism Speaks 400 | 1:30 PM Sunday | FOX |
4.2
|
| FOX airs its final NASCAR race of the season on Sunday, after an unsuccessful season that saw each of the net’s first 11 races draw declining ratings. Last year, the Autism Speaks 400 drew a 4.5 rating. Look for NASCAR on FOX to end the same way it began — on a down note. | ||||
| IRL | ABC Supply A.J. Foyt 225 | 3:30 PM Sunday | ABC |
0.7
|
| After the lowest rating for the Indy 500 in at least 36 years, the IRL returns to ABC on Sunday. Opposite NASCAR and with very little in the way of momentum, the IRL would be happy if ratings matched the 0.8 for last year’s race. | ||||
