- Jaguars/Patriots drew a 17.9/30 final national rating on CBS Saturday night, up 9% from ’07. The telecast was the highest rated Saturday Divisional game since 2005, when Jets/Steelers drew an 18.2. In Boston, the game drew a 42.0/63 on WBZ-TV. The game averaged 30 million viewers, the most for CBS on a Saturday night since the 1994 Winter Olympics.
- The Celtics are not just a draw in Boston. YES Network drew a 1.5 rating for Celtics/Nets last Friday, the network’s highest New Jersey Nets rating in nearly two years.
- Ratings for NHL games on Versus are up 32% from last year, and are “comparable with ESPN2’s viewership in 2003-04“, reports William Houston of the Toronto Globe and Mail. Through the halfway point of the season, games on Versus are averaging just over 260,000 viewers, compared to the 209,000 viewers ESPN2 averaged in its final season. Keep in mind ESPN2 broadcasts were blacked out locally during the 03-04 season.
