In February, THE DAILY tracked the news trends of the top three nightly sports news shows and monitored the total coverage time devoted to individual sports on the 11:00pm ET editions of ESPN's "SportsCenter," FSN's "Fox Sports News Primetime" and CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight." In its exposure analysis, THE DAILY did not include post-intro, pre- and post-commercial conversations between anchors, promos for upcoming network programming, commercial time or the "It Happens" segment on CNN/SI's "Sports Tonight." The following lists the total minutes allotted to each league or event in highlights, voice-overs, over-the-shoulder graphics and any other on-air mention. That figure is followed by the percentage of total air time devoted to each league or event during each shows' broadcast for the month:
| ESPN "SPORTSCENTER" | FOX SPORTS NET "FSN PRIMETIME" | CNN/SI "SPORTS TONIGHT" |
NBA | 305:08 - 19.8% | 372:27 - 23.7% | 171:03 - 17.8% |
NCAA B-ball (M) | 252:53 - 16.4% | 182:14 - 11.6% | 138:36 - 14.4% |
NHL | 152:14 - 9.9% | 97:13 - 6.1% | 64:41 - 6.7% |
MLB | 64:24 - 3.4% | 66:34 - 2.6% | 51:51 - 6.5% |
PGA Tour | 67:11 - 4.4% | 55:17 - 3.5% | 45:47 - 4.7% |
NFL | 52:25 - 3.4% | 40:09 - 2.6% | 62:15 - 6.5% |
Auto Racing | 61:19 - 4.0% | 14:18 - .9% | 30:17 - 3.1% |
Boxing | 23:03 - 1.5% | 31:47 - 2.0% | 15:32 - 1.6% |
Human Interest | 10:01 - .7% | 28:13 - 1.8% | 30:47 - 3.2% |
Olympics | :50 - .03% | 34:50 - 2.2% | 3:08 - .3% |
Senior PGA Tour | 7:57 - .5% | 5:07 - .3% | 2:28 - .2% |
NCAA B-ball (W) | 8:55 - .6% | :31 - .01% | 3:30 - .3% |
Special Reports | 17:22 - 1.1% | 10:22 - .7% | |
NCAA Football | 2:41 - .1% | 1:00 - .06% | 3:40 - .4% |
ATP Tour | 2:08 - .1% | 4:03 - .3% | 1:04 - .1% |
LPGA Tour | 3:26 - .2% | 2:14 - .1% | 1:18 - .1% |
WTA Tour | :27 - .02% | 2:44 - .2% | 2:49 - .3% |
Soccer | :28 - .02% | 3:20 - .2% | 1:48 - .2% |
Figure Skating | :50 - .03% | | 2:45 - .3% |
Min. League Hockey | :52 - .03% | :16 - .01% | 1:08 - .1% |
European Golf | 1:19 - .08% | | :23 - .02% |
NCAA Hockey | 1:04 - .07% | :28 - .02% | |
Skiing | | | 1:02 - .1% |
Westmnstr Dog Show | :04 - .00% | | :39 - .02% |
NTRA | :30 - .02% | | |
PBA Tour | :28 - .02% | | |
NFL Europe | | :19 - .01% | |
Int'l Basketball | | | :15 - .02% |
WNBA | :15 - .01% | | |
Miscellaneous | 2:00 - .1% | 6:14 - .4% | 6:32 - .7% |
TOTAL (minutes) | 1039:59 - 68% | 959:40 - 61% | 643:18 - 67% |
|
TOTAL AIR TIME | 1538:00:00 | 1569:00:00 | 962:00:00 |
LEADS: NBA news and highlights led the broadcasts of 49 out of a possible 84 shows. FSN led with the NBA on 19 out of 28 shows, while ESPN and CNN/SI both led with the NBA 15 times. ESPN's remaining 13 lead stories were NCAA men's basketball (8), NHL, MLB, auto racing, boxing and Walter Payton's illness. FSN's nine remaining leads were NCAA men's basketball (5), Payton's illness (2), MLB and boxing. CNN/SI's other 13 leads were NCAA men's basketball (5), boxing (3), NFL, MLB, PGA, auto racing and Payton's illness. BROADCAST NOTES: The 11:00pm ET broadcasts of ESPN's "SportsCenter" and FSN's "Fox Sports News Primetime" were abbreviated on occasion due to network coverage of NCAA men's college basketball games, but the shows' content were included in the chart. "SportsCenter" ran for 37:00 on 2/1, 21:00 on 2/4, 45:00 on 2/8 and 15:00 on 2/22. "Fox Sports News Primetime" ran a 2:45 minute update on 2/11 and a 6:24 minute update on 2/18, both coming at halftime of college basketball games. THE DAILY's analysis of "Fox Sports News Primetime" used the feed provided by Fox Sports South.