The Michigan/Ohio State rivalry topped the weekend’s college basketball slate. In other news, overnights held steady for the first NASCAR points race on Fox Sports 1, and NBC earned its second-lowest EPL overnight of the season.
Big Ten, Kentucky, Duke, Top College Hoops Slate
- Sunday’s Ohio State/Michigan college basketball game drew a 1.5 overnight rating on CBS, the weekend’s top such game on any network. Overnights for last year’s comparable Michigan State/Michigan game were not available. Ranking second and third for the weekend were Saturday’s Auburn/Kentucky (1.3) and Clemson/Duke (1.2) games on ESPN. FOX, as usual, struggled with its coverage — earning a mere 0.4 for Seton Hall/St. John’s and a 0.5 for Villanova/Marquette. (via ShowBuzz Daily)
Overnights Flat For Xfinity Series Debut on FS1
- Airing a NASCAR points race for the first time, Fox Sports 1 earned a 1.7 overnight for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Daytona Saturday afternoon. According to Sports Business Daily, the 1.7 is even with last year’s race on ESPN, which aired opposite the Winter Olympics, but down 26% from the 2013 race on the same network (2.3). (via Sports Business Daily)
NBC Hits Near-Season Low For EPL
- NBC drew a 0.6 overnight rating for Saturday’s Manchester City/Newcastle English Premier League match, the network’s second-lowest EPL overnight of the season. Only Swansea City/Leicester City in October earned a smaller overnight (0.5). (via Sports Business Daily)
