- College basketball did poorly on CBS last weekend. Opposite the Cardinals/Saints Divisional Round game, last Saturday’s Illinois/Michigan St. matchup drew a mere 0.6 final rating — down 54% from last year’s comparable game, which did not go head-to-head with the NFL. Sunday’s Connecticut/Michigan matchup, which aired opposite Cowboys/Vikings, also drew a 0.6 rating — actually up 20% from last year. (Sports Business Daily)
- ESPN fared considerably better with its college basketball coverage last week. The network drew a 1.3 U.S. rating and 1.9 million viewers for Syracuse/West Virginia last Saturday, and a 1.3 and 1.8 million for the Georgia Tech/North Carolina game that followed. Neither game went head-to-head with NFL coverage. ESPN’s top college basketball game of last week was a January 12 Kentucky/Florida matchup, which drew a 1.6 and 2.5 million. (Sports Business Daily)
- NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships drew a 1.3 final rating on Saturday and a 1.5 on Sunday. The telecasts were the top non-NFL sports programs of the week on broadcast. (Sports Business Daily)
Netflix officially announces expanded NFL deal
The NFL has officially reached a new deal with Netflix that will see the streamer bookend the season.
