First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Washington/Giants or other regional action | FOX |
13.2
|
14.8
|
| The 14.8 rating for last Sunday’s Washington/Giants tilt marks a 14% increase over Cowboys/Browns last year (13.0), and ranks as the highest rated Week 1 NFL telecast since 2000. | ||||
| NFL | Bears/Packers | NBC |
11.0
|
12.6
|
| Last Sunday night’s Bears/Packers tilt drew a 12.6 final rating on NBC, up 13% from an 11.2 for Bears/Colts last year, and the highest rated Week 1 Sunday Night Football game since ’06. | ||||
| NFL | Cowboys/Buccaneers or other regional action | FOX |
9.2
|
8.6
|
| Regional NFL action featuring the Cowboys and Brett Favre‘s season debut scored an 8.6 rating on FOX last Sunday, up 69% from last year’s 5.1, and the network’s highest Week 1 rating in that telecast window since ’01. | ||||
| NFL | Jets/Texans or other regional action | CBS |
9.0
|
7.1
|
| The 7.1 final rating for regional NFL action on CBS last Sunday was off 25% from a 9.4 last year, and marked the lowest rating for an NFL telecast on any network during Week 1. | ||||
| College football | USC/Ohio State | ESPN |
6.4
|
6.3
|
| Last Saturday’s USC/Ohio State battle drew a 6.3 U.S. rating on ESPN, up 47% from a 4.3 for Miami/Florida last year. The game drew 10.6 million viewers, making it the most-viewed college football game in the 30-year history of ESPN. | ||||
| College football | Notre Dame/Michigan | ABC |
3.8
|
5.2
|
| While ABC did not air the ratings blockbuster that was USC/Ohio State, the net still scored with coverage of Notre Dame/Michigan last week. Michigan’s victory over Notre Dame drew a 5.2 rating, up 79% from a 2.9 for comparable regional action last year, and up 49% from a 3.5 for Michigan/Notre Dame on NBC last year. | ||||
| Tennis | U.S. Open semifinal, Clijsters/S. Williams | CBS |
2.3
|
2.1
|
| The 2.1 rating for last week’s Clijsters/S. Williams U.S. Open semifinal was even with a 2.1 for the Saturday night Henin/Kuznetsova women’s final in ’07. There was no comparable Saturday night match last year. | ||||
| Tennis | U.S. Open semfinal, Federer/Djokovic | CBS |
3.0
|
2.6
|
| Last Sunday’s Federer/Djokovic U.S. Open semifinal drew a 2.6 final rating on CBS, off 13% from a 3.0 for the conclusion of the Murray/Nadal semifinal last year. Despite the decrease, Federer/Djokovic drew a higher rating than the Del Potro/Federer men’s final which aired the next day. | ||||
| Tennis | U.S. Open women’s final, Clijsters/Wozniacki | CBS |
1.7
|
1.1
|
| Last Sunday’s Clijsters/Wozniacki U.S. Open women’s final drew a 1.1 U.S. rating on ESPN2, off 67% from a 3.3 for S. Williams/Jankovic on CBS last year. The 1.1 rating is the lowest for the women’s final of the U.S. Open since at least ’96. | ||||
| Golf | BMW Championship, Final Round | NBC |
3.1
|
2.3
|
| Final round coverage of Tiger Woods‘ win at last week’s BMW Championship drew a 2.3 rating on NBC, up 92% from last year, but down 26% from ’07. This marks the lowest rating for final round coverage of a Woods victory since ’06. | ||||
| NASCAR | Chevy Rock & Roll 400 | ABC |
4.0
|
3.5
|
| The 3.5 rating for last Saturday’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 — the first NASCAR race of ’09 on ABC — was off 17% from a 4.2 in ’07, but up 40% from a 2.5 for last year’s rain delayed race on ESPN. | ||||
| MLB | Mets/Phillies or other regional action | FOX |
1.3
|
1.2
|
| The 1.2 rating for regional MLB coverage on FOX last week was off 8% from last year, and ranks as the lowest rating of the season for MLB on FOX. | ||||
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Giants/Cowboys | 8:15 PM Sunday | NBC |
13.1
|
| The Cowboys officially open their brand new stadium against the rival Giants. Expect ratings for this big market rivalry to soar well above the 10.8 for Steelers/Browns in Week 2 last year. | ||||
| NFL | Steelers/Bears or other regional action | 4:15 PM Sunday | CBS |
12.3
|
| Despite the presence of the defending Super Bowl champions and the #3 market Chicago Bears, expect ratings for Steelers/Bears to fall well short of the 15.3 rating for last year’s comparable Patriots/Jets game. | ||||
| NFL | Patriots/Jets or other regional action | 1 PM Sunday | CBS |
7.8
|
| Do not expect CBS to light up the ratings for its 1 PM NFL coverage. While Patriots/Jets may attract some eyeballs due to midweek hype, other matchups involving the Raiders and Bengals are unlikely to produce big ratings. Last year, comparable coverage drew an 8.0. | ||||
| NFL | Saints/Eagles or other regional action | 1 PM Sunday | CBS |
8.7
|
| No Cowboys, no Packers and no Bears for FOX this Sunday. That alone could make it tough for single game coverage on Sunday to match last year’s 9.5 rating. | ||||
| College football | Michigan State/Notre Dame | 3:30 PM Saturday | NBC |
2.4
|
| NBC’s first Notre Dame telecast of the season drew a mere 1.3 rating. Despite that stumble, last week’s 5.2 for Notre Dame/Michigan should give NBC some hope for this week’s Michigan State/Notre Dame tilt. The last time Notre Dame played Michigan State on NBC, the game drew a 2.0 rating. | ||||
| College football | Tennessee/Florida | 3:30 PM Saturday | CBS |
3.1
|
| An offseason of hype, mostly due to Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, should result in solid ratings for this rivalry game. Last year, Florida/Tennessee drew a 2.7 rating; the year before, the matchup drew a 2.6. | ||||
| College football | USC/Washington or other regional action | 3:30 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.5
|
| Led by USC’s tilt against Washington, expect regional college football coverage to draw solid numbers for ABC Saturday afternoon. Regional coverage on the comparable date last year drew a 2.4. | ||||
| College football | Texas Tech/Texas | 8 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.6
|
| This early season battle of Texas rivals will not even come close to the 7.5 rating for the same matchup late last season, or the 7.0 rating Ohio State/USC drew on the comparable date last year. | ||||
| NASCAR | Sylvania 300 | 2 PM Sunday | ABC |
3.5
|
| After a less-than-stellar 3.5 rating for last week’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on ABC, will ratings bounce back for the first race of the Chase for the Cup? Last year, the Sylvania 300 drew a 3.8 rating. | ||||
| MLB | Cubs/Cardinals or other regional action | 4 PM Saturday | FOX |
1.4
|
| After two straight weeks of season-low ratings, can FOX bounce back with MLB coverage this week? Coverage on the comparable date last year drew a 1.7. | ||||
| WNBA | Sparks/Storm Game 3 | 5 PM Sunday | ESPN2 |
0.3
|
| The 2009 WNBA Playoffs continue on ESPN2. With the league’s only big draw — the Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker led Los Angeles Sparks — facing elimination, will a (relatively) big audience tune in? | ||||
