Versus averaged 642,000 viewers for its telecast of the Izod IndyCar Series Edmonton Indy last Sunday afternoon, marking the net’s most-viewed IndyCar telecast in three seasons of televising races. The telecast was also up 99.4% from 322,000 viewers for the same race last year -- this year's race began at 2:55pm ET compared to 5:45pm in '10. The race marks the most-viewed Edmonton Indy event (IndyCar or Champ Car) ever on cable TV, surpassing ESPN’s coverage in ‘07 and ‘08 and the race on Speed in ‘05. Versus’ previous best for an IndyCar telecast was 525,000 viewers for the June 11 Firestone Twin 275s from Texas Motor Speedway.
JUST FOR KICKS: Univision averaged 2.87 million viewers for its telecast of the Paraguay-Venezuela Copa America semifinal on July 20, topping all sports telecasts on broadcast and cable TV for the week ending July 24. The net’s Uruguay-Peru semifinal on July 19 (2.67 million viewers) ranked third for the week. Meanwhile, with the return of many FIFA Women's World Cup players to WPS competition, Fox Soccer added coverage of the magicJack-Western New York Flash match on July 20 to its schedule. While the game sold out in Rochester, the telecast averaged only 27,000 viewers from 7:30-9:38pm ET.
SECOND DOWN: NFL Network averaged 71,000 viewers for 20 AFL regular-season telecasts this year, down 22.8% from an average of 92,000 viewers for 18 telecasts last season. However, the season did end on a high note. The Spokane Shock-Jacksonville Sharks matchup last Friday averaged 192,000 viewers, marking the league’s most-viewed telecast on NFL Net in two seasons of coverage. The net’s previous high was 141,000 viewers for the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz-Tulsa Talons game on July 30 last year.
NOTES: ABC averaged a 0.5 rating and 756,000 viewers for the WNBA All-Star Game last Saturday from 3:30-6:00pm. Those figures are up 25% and 46%, respectively, from a 0.4 rating and 519,000 viewers for the game in ’09, which was the last time ABC aired the game. This year’s telecast peaked at 1.09 million viewers during the last 15 minutes of the telecast....FS Arizona earned a 5.2 local rating in Phoenix for the D'Backs-Padres game on Tuesday, marking the net's best rating of the season for a D'Backs game....The Blue Jays-Rangers game on FS Southwest on Sunday earned a 6.0 local rating in Dallas-Ft. Worth, marking the net's highest-rated Rangers game of the season. The rating surpassed the previous mark set by the A's-Rangers game on July 10.
The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts on broadcast and cable TV. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
Copa America Semifinal:
Paraguay-Venezuela | 7/20 | Univision | 8:17-11:41pm | 1.5 | 2,869 |
| MLB: (regional) | 7/23 | Fox | 4:08-7:15pm | 1.8 | 2,863 |
Copa America Semifinal:
Uruguay-Peru | 7/19 | Univision | 8:15-10:43pm | 1.4 | 2,665 |
PGA Tour: RBC Canadian Open:
Final Round | 7/24 | CBS | 3:00-6:12pm | 1.8 | 2,500 |
Copa America Final:
Uruguay-Paraguay | 7/24 | Univision | 2:34-5:00pm | 1.2 | 2,251 |
| F1: GP of Germany (taped) | 7/24 | Fox | 12:00-1:50pm | 0.9 | 1,406 |
PGA Tour: RBC Canadian Open:
Third Round | 7/23 | CBS | 3:00-6:01pm | 1.0 | 1,375 |
Horse Racing:
American Oaks (Saratoga) | 7/23 | NBC | 5:00-6:00pm | 0.8 | 1,183 |
FINA Swimming World
Championships (taped) | 7/24 | NBC | 2:00-4:00pm | 0.7 | 983 |
| Tour de France recap | 7/24 | CBS | 2:00-3:00pm | 0.5 | 855 |
| WNBA All-Star Game | 7/23 | ABC | 3:30-6:00pm | 0.5 | 756 |
| Dew Tour: Pantech Open | 7/24 | NBC | 4:30-6:00pm | 0.5 | 705 |
| Dew Tour: Pantech Open | 7/23 | NBC | 3:30-5:00pm | 0.5 | 669 |
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
| MLB: Braves-Reds | 7/24 | ESPN | 7:58-11:02pm | 1.5 | 2,324 |
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
Federated Auto Parts 300 (Nashville) | 7/23 | ESPN | 7:29-10:06pm | 1.1 | 1,728 |
| MLB: Rays-Yankees | 7/18 | ESPN | 7:00-11:13pm | 0.7 | 994 |
| Senior British Open: Final Round | 7/24 | ESPN | 12:00-2:02pm | 0.5 | 763 |
| MLB: Cardinals-Mets | 7/20 | ESPN | 7:00-10:29pm | 0.5 | 712 |
NHRA Full Throttle Series:
Mopra Mile-High Nationals | 7/24 | ESPN2 | 7:00-10:00pm | 0.5 | 705 |
| World Cup of Softball: U.S.-Canada | 7/23 | ESPN | 2:00-4:30pm | 0.5 | 688 |
| World Series of Poker | 7/19 | ESPN | 8:00-10:00pm | 0.5 | 646 |
| Izod IndyCar Series: Edmonton Indy | 7/24 | Versus | 2:55-4:53pm | 0.4 | 642 |
Men's Softball: Border Battle III:
U.S.-Canada | 7/23 | ESPN | 4:30-5:40pm | 0.4 | 637 |
