First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASCAR | Allstate 400 at the Brickyard | ESPN |
3.8
|
4.1
|
| Last Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard drew a 4.1 U.S. rating on ESPN, down 5% from a 4.3 last year, and tied as the second-lowest rating in the 15 year history of the event. Despite the decline, the race drew a higher rating than the Indianapolis 500. | ||||
| WNBA | WNBA All-Star Game | ABC |
0.6
|
0.4
|
| The measly 0.4 rating for the WNBA All-Star Game marks a 43% decline from a 0.7 in ’07, the last time the All-Star Game was held. | ||||
| MLB | Cardinals/Phillies or other regional action | FOX |
1.7
|
1.9
|
| The 1.9/5 rating for regional MLB coverage on FOX last Saturday was down 32% from a 2.8/7 for a Yankees/Red Sox game last year. | ||||
| Golf | Senior British Open, final round | ABC |
1.2
|
1.0
|
| The 1.0/3 rating for the final round of last week’s Senior British Open marks an 11% rise over last year’s 0.9/2. | ||||
| Swimming | World Championships | NBC |
0.9
|
0.8
|
| NBC drew a 0.8/2 final rating for swimming coverage last Sunday. Including the U.S. Swimming National Championships earlier in July, NBC has averaged a 0.7 rating for three swimming telecasts in ’09. | ||||
| Cycling | Tour de France | CBS |
1.1
|
0.5
|
| CBS drew a mere 0.5 rating for Tour de France highlights last Sunday, down 29% from a 0.7 last year. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swimming | FINA World Championships | 12 PM Sat. and Sun. | NBC |
1.1 (Sat); 0.9 (Sun)
|
| Hype over the Michael Phelps/Milorad Cavic battle should give NBC relatively decent ratings on Saturday. | ||||
| NASCAR | Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 | 2 PM Sunday | ESPN |
3.5
|
| Expect NASCAR’s season-long ratings slump to continue on Sunday. Last year’s Pennsylvania 500 drew a 3.8 U.S. rating. | ||||
| Golf | Buick Open, Final Round | 3 PM Sunday | CBS |
3.4
|
| Tiger Woods‘ presence at the top of the leaderboard should give the Buick Open a massive boost in the ratings. | ||||
| Golf | Women’s British Open, Final Round | 1 PM Sunday | ABC |
0.5
|
| Do not expect big numbers for the final round of the Women’s British Open. Final round coverage drew a 0.6 last year, and a 0.8 in ’07. | ||||
| MLB | Yankees/White Sox or other regional action | 4 PM Saturday | FOX |
2.2
|
| Saturday’s battle between the #1 and #3 markets in the country should give FOX its best MLB rating since the first week in June. | ||||
| Extreme | X Games | 3 PM Sat. and Sun. | ABC |
0.9 (Sat); 1.0 (Sun)
|
| Expect ratings for the X Games to drop slightly from last year. In ’08, ABC drew a 1.0 on Saturday and a 1.1 on Sunday; in ’07, ABC drew a 0.8 on Saturday and a 1.1 on Sunday. | ||||
