First, the results of last week’s predictions.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, ratings for many sporting events were unavailable.
| Sport | Game/Event | Net |
Prediction
|
Final rating
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Eaglers/Bears | NBC |
11.1
|
10.6
|
| The 10.6 rating for last Sunday night’s Eagles/Bears game was off 9% from Cowboys/Washington in Week 11 last year (11.6). | ||||
| NFL | Jets/Patriots (or other regional action) | CBS |
13.4
|
n/a
|
| NFL | Colts/Ravens (or other regional action) | CBS |
8.7
|
n/a
|
| NFL | Washington/Cowboys (or other regional action) | FOX |
9.9
|
n/a
|
| College football | Oregon/Arizona (or other regional action) | ABC |
3.6
|
3.8
|
| Saturday Night Football, featuring Oregon/Arizona, drew a 3.8 rating on ABC last week — up 31% from comparable coverage last year. | ||||
| College football | Penn St./Michigan St. (or other regional action) | ABC |
4.0
|
n/a
|
| College football | Ohio St./Michigan | ABC |
4.4
|
n/a
|
| College football | LSU/Mississippi | CBS |
3.4
|
n/a
|
| College football | Connecticut/Notre Dame | NBC |
2.0
|
n/a
|
| College football | Kansas St./Nebraska | ESPN |
2.0
|
n/a
|
| NASCAR | Ford 400 | ABC |
3.9
|
3.6
|
| The Ford 400, the final race of the 2009 NASCAR season, drew a 3.6 rating on ABC last Sunday — down 10% from last year, and tied as the lowest rating for the Ford 400 since the inaugural race in ’99. | ||||
| MLS | Galaxy/Real Salt Lake | ESPN |
0.9
|
n/a
|
This week’s predictions:
| Sport | Game/Event | Date/Time | Net |
Prediction
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | Steelers/Ravens | 8:15 PM Sunday | NBC |
10.1
|
| With one team at .500 and the other barely over .500, Sunday night’s Steelers/Ravens tilt does not seem like it has much marquee value. Still, in a year of strong ratings for NFL telecasts, expect even a relatively mediocre performance to still finish ahead of last year’s comparable Colts/Chargers matchup (9.5). | ||||
| NFL | Bears/Vikings (or other regional action) | 4:15 PM Sunday | FOX |
14.9
|
| The Bears may be just 4-6, but look for their matchup against the 10-1 Vikings — featuring a head-to-head confrontation between QBs Jay Cutler and Brett Favre — to attract a fairly large audience. Last year’s comparable Week 12 telecast (mostly Giants/Cardinals) drew a hefty 14.5. | ||||
| NFL | Washington/Eagles (or other regional action) | 1 PM Sunday | FOX |
8.4
|
|
Without the aid of marquee teams like the Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, Giants and Packers — and saddled with teams like 3-7 Washington, 3-7 Seattle, 1-9 Tampa Bay and 1-9 St. Louis — do not expect blockbuster numbers for the first half of Sunday’s NFL doubleheader on FOX. |
||||
| NFL | Colts/Texans (or other regional action) | 1 PM Sunday | CBS |
9.9
|
| The undefeated Colts are the featured attraction on Sunday’s NFL singleheader on CBS, which should more than balance out the presence of the Chiefs (3-7), Bills (3-7) and Browns (1-9). | ||||
| College football | Miami/South Florida (or other regional action) | 3:30 PM Saturday | ABC |
3.5
|
| Regional college football coverage featuring Miami/South Florida should put up decent numbers on ABC Saturday. | ||||
| College football | Notre Dame/Stanford (or Georgia/Ga. Tech) | 8 PM Saturday | ABC |
4.1
|
| Notre Dame should attract a decent audience to ABC’s Saturday Night Football — not for their prowess on the field, but for the drama surrounding them off it. Still, Saturday’s telecast should finish well below Oklahoma/Oklahoma St. on Thanksgiving weekend last year (5.7). | ||||
| College football | Florida St./Florida | 3:30 PM Saturday | CBS |
4.7
|
| This rivalry no longer has the relevance it once did on a national scale. That being said, Florida is one of the biggest draws in college football — and even moribund Florida St. still has some drawing power. Look for Saturday’s game, the last home game for hyped Florida QB Tim Tebow, to draw strong numbers. | ||||
| College football | Arkansas/LSU | 7 PM Saturday | ESPN |
1.8
|
| This matchup, long a staple of Black Friday, moves to Saturday night this year. Expect decent enough numbers for this SEC tilt. | ||||
