Ratings and viewership rose for Oklahoma/West Virginia on FOX last weekend. Meanwhile, ESPN had mixed results for a Friday night NBA doubleheader, and Knicks ratings are up big on MSG Network.
- Modest Bump For College Football on FOX: Saturday’s Oklahoma/West Virginia college football game drew a 2.1 final rating and 3.2 million viewers on FOX — up 11% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Kansas State/TCU the previous week (1.9, 3.0M), but down 25% and 28%, respectively, from Oregon/Southern Cal two weeks ago (2.8, 4.5M). The game was trounced head-to-head by Stanford/Oregon on ABC (5.1, 8.3M), but was on par with Kansas State/Baylor on ESPN (2.1, 3.3M). Final numbers for Southern Cal/UCLA earlier in the day are unlikely to be released publicly. (Sat. numbers from TV Media Insights)
- Knicks/Grizzlies Up on ESPN: ESPN drew 2.0 million viewers for the Knicks/Grizzlies NBA regular season game last Friday, up 22% from Blazers/Thunder in 2010 (1.7M), but down 13% from Lakers/Nuggets in 2009 (2.3M). The game earned an 8.3 in Memphis, the market’s highest ever for a regular season game on ESPN. Earlier in the night, Jazz/Sixers drew 1.1 million — down 24% from Jazz/Hawks in 2010 (1.4M), and down 39% from Hawks/Celtics in 2009 (1.8M). Last year’s games (Heat/Cavaliers and Knicks/Suns) were canceled due to the NBA owners’ lockout. (Fri. numbers from The Futon Critic)
- Knicks Ratings Up Big on MSG: The season’s first six Nielsen-rated New York Knicks telecasts on MSG Network averaged a 3.2 rating in the New York City market, up 58% from the network’s first six games last season (2.0). MSG’s first three Knicks games were not rated due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy. Tuesday’s Knicks/Hornets game had a season-high 3.95 rating. (msg.com)
