First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Source: Sports Business Daily
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Giants/Cowboys | NBC |
13.1
|
15.1
|
| The Giants’ last-second victory over the Cowboys last Sunday drew a 15.1 rating on NBC, up a whopping 40% from a 10.8 for Steelers/Browns last year, and the highest primetime NFL rating since 2000. | ||||
| NFL | Steelers/Bears or other regional action | CBS |
12.3
|
14.5
|
| The Bears’ narrow win over the Steelers drew a strong 14.5 rating on CBS last Sunday, still down 5% from a 15.3 for Patriots/Jets in the same window last year. | ||||
| NFL | Patriots/Jets or other regional action | CBS |
7.8
|
8.5
|
| The first game of last week’s NFL on CBS doubleheader drew an 8.5 rating, up 6% from an 8.0 in ’08. | ||||
| NFL | Saints/Eagles or other regional action | FOX |
8.7
|
9.6
|
| The lone Week 2 NFL telecast on FOX drew a solid 9.6 rating, up a tick from a 9.5 last year. So far this season, all three NFL telecasts on FOX have had increased ratings versus last year. | ||||
| College football | Michigan St./Notre Dame | NBC |
2.4
|
2.7
|
| NBC drew a 2.7 rating for last week’s Michigan State/Notre Dame game, the network’s second-highest Notre Dame rating of the past two years. The 2.7 was up 35% over a 2.0 for Michigan State/Notre Dame on NBC in ’07. | ||||
| College football | Tennessee/Florida | CBS |
3.1
|
4.3
|
| In defeat, Lane Kiffin gave CBS a gift. An offseason of hype for last week’s Tennessee/Florida matchup resulted in a 4.3 rating, up 59% from last year’s battle between the teams. | ||||
| College football | USC/Washington or other regional action | ABC |
3.5
|
3.1
|
| The 3.1 rating for regional college football action on ABC last Saturday marked a 29% increase from last year. | ||||
| College football | Texas Tech/Texas | ABC |
3.6
|
4.1
|
| Texas’ win over Texas Tech on ABC Saturday Night Football was down 41% from last year’s comparable USC/Ohio State game. | ||||
| NASCAR | Sylvania 300 | ABC |
3.5
|
3.2
|
| The Sylvania 300, the first race in NASCAR’s Chase for the Cup, drew a 3.2 rating on ABC — down 16% from a 3.8 last year, and the lowest rating for the race since ’06. | ||||
| MLB | Cubs/Cardinals or other regional action | FOX |
1.4
|
1.4
|
| The 1.4 for regional MLB coverage on FOX last Saturday was off 18% from a 1.7 for coverage on the comparable date last year. So far this season, FOX has failed to draw even a 2.0 rating for MLB coverage 17 times. | ||||
| WNBA | Sparks/Storm Game 3 | ESPN2 |
0.3
|
n/a
|
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Colts/Cardinals | 8:20 PM Sunday | NBC |
12.5
|
| NBC should draw strong numbers for Sunday’s matchup pitting the ever-marketable Peyton Manning against the defending NFC champions. Still, Colts/Cardinals will be hard pressed to match the ratings for last year’s Cowboys/Packers game (13.3). | ||||
| NFL | Steelers/Bengals | 4:15 PM Sunday | CBS |
13.2
|
| For the second straight week, the defending champion Steelers are the main attraction in the highly rated late Sunday afternoon NFL window. Look for ratings to rise by a solid margin over last year’s 12.0 for Steelers/Eagles. | ||||
| NFL | Titans/Jets or other regional action | 1 PM Sunday | CBS |
9.1
|
| CBS should draw good ratings for its early window on Sunday, which features the Mark Sanchez and the 2-0 Jets and the regular season debut of Eagles’ QB Michael Vick. Comparable coverage last year drew an 8.1. | ||||
| NFL | Falcons/Patriots or other regional action | 1 PM Sunday | FOX |
8.9
|
| The Patriots are always a mainstream attraction. Look for their matchup against the up-and-coming Falcons to do well on FOX Sunday afternoon. Last year, comparable coverage drew an 8.7. | ||||
| MLB | Red Sox/Yankees | 4 PM Saturday | FOX |
2.4
|
| FOX should expect at least a 2.0 rating for its final Red Sox/Yankees tilt of the regular season. The last time the Yankees and Red Sox met on FOX, the game drew a 2.3 rating. | ||||
| MLB | Red Sox/Yankees | 1 PM Sunday | ESPN |
2.3
|
| The Yankees and Red Sox finish their 3-game series in a rare afternoon edition of Sunday Night Baseball. Moved from 8 PM to 1 PM due to Yom Kippur, the last meeting of the regular season between the rivals should put up lower-than-usual numbers. So far this season, all three Yankees/Red Sox games on Sunday Night Baseball have drawn a 3.0 U.S. rating. | ||||
| College football | Miami/Va. Tech or other regional action | 3:30 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.5
|
| Regional action featuring several highly-ranked teams, including #6 Cal, #9 Miami, #11 Virginia Tech and #13 Ohio State, should give ABC a slight boost in the ratings versus last year’s 3.3. | ||||
| College football | Iowa/Penn St. | 8 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.7
|
| Iowa/Penn State may not be a particularly high-profile matchup, but it should perform well in the ratings, compared to last year’s Georgia/Arizona State game (2.7). | ||||
| Golf | The Tour Championship, Final Round | 1:30 PM Sunday | NBC |
3.0
|
| Tiger Woods enters the final round of The Tour Championship in second place, with Phil Mickelson in a tie for third. Despite competition from the NFL, look for the combination of Tiger and Phil to result in big ratings for the finale of the FedEx Cup. | ||||
| NASCAR | AAA 400 | 2 PM Sunday | ABC |
3.4
|
| On the heels of two straight double-digit declines, NASCAR continues on ABC. Look for Sunday’s AAA 400 to see a small rise in ratings over last year’s 3.3. | ||||
