Final Nielsen Ratings From Recent Sports Events

The following lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports events (THE DAILY).

LOCAL NFL LOVE: In Pittsburgh, Ed Bouchette reported the Steelers this season averaged a 44.5/66 HH rating in the Pittsburgh market, up 5% over the previous season. Also, Steelers games ranked as the 15 highest-rated programs in the market for '08, and the "only reason" there were not 16 games atop the rankings was the September 14 Steelers-Browns game was "not rated because of Hurricane Ike" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 1/8)....The Chargers this season averaged a 26.8 HH rating in the San Diego market, up from a 26.0 last season, and the top 20 programs in the market for '08 included 17 Chargers games and three NBC "Football Night in America" shows, all of which preceded Chargers games (Chargers)....The Ravens averaged a 27.6 HH rating in the Baltimore market for the regular season, up 12% over the '07 season, and the 11 highest-rated shows in the market were either Ravens games or pre- or postgame programming (Baltimore SUN, 1/9)....Giants games marked seven of the top 10-ranked shows in the N.Y. market this year, and the November 30 Broncos-Jets game held the No. 8 spot (NEWSDAY, 1/9).

FAVRE FAVRE AWAY: In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley reported the Packers this season averaged a 32.9 HH rating in the Milwaukee market, marking their lowest local TV ratings since at least '94. In '07, when the Packers won the NFC North and advanced to the NFC Championship game, the team averaged a 41.0 HH rating locally for regular-season telecasts (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/6). Meanwhile, Wolfley reports Milwaukee's WDJT-CBS averaged a 12.4/22 HH rating and 112,263 HHs for ten Jets games this season, up 19.2% from a 10.4/18 rating and 92,664 HHs for all non-Packers games in '07. The September 7 Jets-Dolphins game drew a 21.3 HH rating and 189,218 HHs, marking the highest non-Packers game audience for the season on WDJT, while November 25, 2007 Broncos-Bears game marked the highest-rated non-Packers game on the net last year, with a 14.2 rating and 128,559 HHs (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/9).

NOTES: WMAQ-NBC earned an 11.8 HH rating and more than 400,000 HHs in Chicago for the January 1 Red Wings-Blackhawks Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, ranking ahead of all other programs in the market for the day (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 1/9)....YES Network finished the '08 broadcast year as the most-viewed RSN in total-day delivery for the sixth consecutive year, averaging 29,000 HHs in total-day delivery, 16% more than NESN, which ranked second with 25,000 HHs (YES)....In high school football action last Sunday, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on NBC from 1:00-4:00pm ET earned 2.1 million viewers compared to 1.2 million viewers for ESPN's telecast of the Under Armour All-America Game from 8:00-11:02pm ET (THE DAILY).