Overnight (metered market) ratings by timeslot.
Sunday, 12:00 PM – 2:30 PM.
1.1/3: NHL on NBC
- The NHL wins its timeslot. Unfortunately for the league, it had no competition.
Sunday, 2:30 PM – 7:00 PM.
8.4/17: NCAA Tournament on CBS, Georgetown/UNC
6.3/15: NCAA Tournament on CBS, Florida/Oregon
4.9/11: NASCAR on FOX, Food City 500
3.4/7: PGA Tour on NBC, WGC-CA Championship
1.2: NBA on ABC, Suns/Kings
- The NBA hits a new low on broadcast television. With a 1.2 overnight, Suns/Kings is almost assured the lowest rating ever for an NBA game on over the air television. There is every likelihood that the game will end up with a rating below 1.0. This is what happens when a network mixes a mediocre, small-market team like Sacramento with a timeslot that puts the game directly against Elite Eight college basketball on CBS. ABC can only hope and pray that Suns/Mavs next Sunday draws at least a 3.0.
- Georgetown/UNC fell quite short of my admittedly lofty prediction. While the game should end up with a very good rating, one would imagine that a match-up of powerhouse programs should pick up at least a 9. Then again, the only Elite Eight match-up since 2004 to draw more than a 9 rating was Kentucky/Michigan State in 2005.
- Despite the fact that the overnight ratings are usually lower than the final ratings for NASCAR telecasts, don’t expect the Food City 500 to come close to the 6.2 final rating the race drew last year.
- Tiger Woods’ presence aids another golf tournament. The 3.4 rating for the WGC-CA Championship was 10% higher than the 3.1 for comparable coverage of last year’s Players Championship.
