The return of the Pittsburgh Penguins attracted big numbers locally Wednesday night. In other news, college basketball games on both CBS and ESPN suffered declines in ratings last weekend.
- Penguins’ Scrimmage Tops Pirates’ Season Average: Wednesday’s Pittsburgh Penguins practice scrimmage earned a 6.7 rating on Root Sports in Pittsburgh, the market’s highest rated program of the night on broadcast or cable. To put that in perspective, the Pirates averaged a 6.5 on Root Sports through most of the 2012 baseball season. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via SB Nation)
- Big Drop For Michigan/Ohio St.: Last Sunday’s Michigan/Ohio State men’s college basketball game drew a 1.2 final rating on CBS, down 37% from Indiana/Ohio State in a later timeslot last year (1.9), but up 100% from Purdue/West Virginia in 2011 (0.6). Last year’s game had a lead-in from NFL playoff coverage. (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
- Fewer Viewers For Duke Upset: ESPN drew a 1.5 U.S. rating and 2.2 million viewers for the Duke/North Carolina State game last Saturday afternoon, down 12% in ratings and 7% in viewership from Kentucky/Tennessee in the same window last year (1.7, 2.3M). Later in the day, North Carolina/Florida State drew a 1.0 and 1.5 million — down 33% and 26%, respectively, from the same matchup last year (1.5, 2.1M). (Weekend numbers from Sports Business Daily)
