CBS finished with a 3.4 rating and 4.9 million viewers for the final round of the PGA Championship last Sunday afternoon, which saw Rory McIlroy’s victory go head-to-head with the final day of London Games competition. Those figures are down from a 4.1 rating and 6.1 million viewers for Keegan Bradley’s win last year. Compared to '08 final round, which aired up against the Beijing Games, the final this year was up from a 2.8 rating and 4.0 million viewers (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
AROUND THE BELTWAY: In DC, Dan Steinberg noted MASN, MASN2 and over-the-air station WDCW-CW are combining to average a 2.4 local rating for Nationals games through Aug. 7, up 62.2% over last year’s numbers at the same point. The gains mark “the biggest increase in baseball.” The Nationals are “averaging as many households in the DC market as the Caps and Wizards did last season combined.” Through the same period, Orioles games on MASN, MASN2 and over-the-air station WJZ-CBS are averaging a 4.3 rating in Baltimore, up 36.4% (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/15)….Meanwhile, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic earned a 9.15 local rating in DC for the Redskins-Bills preseason game on Aug. 9, marking the highest-rated program in the net’s history. The telecast, which featured the debut of Redskins Q Robert Griffin III, peaked at a 10.75 rating during the first quarter. The net’s previous high was an 8.1 rating for the '10 Capitals-Canadiens NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game Seven (CSN Mid-Atlantic).
NOTES: Monday night’s Cowboys-Raiders game earned a 5.1 local rating on ESPN in Dallas-Ft. Worth and a 12.0 rating on KTVT-CBS. The Rangers-Yankees game on the same night earned a 4.3 local rating on FS Southwest (DALLASNEWS.com, 8/14)….The Charlotte market ranked last among all U.S. markets for NBC’s primetime Olympic telecasts with an average of 159,000 homes. By comparison, NFL Panthers telecasts averaged 268,000 homes during the ’11 season (BIZJOURNALS.com, 8/16).
The charts below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| London Olympics (Closing Ceremony) |
8/12
|
NBC
|
8:30-10:58pm
|
17.0
|
31,011
|
| London Olympics (primetime) |
8/10
|
NBC
|
9:00-11:14pm
|
13.2
|
22,494
|
| London Olympics (primetime) |
8/11
|
NBC
|
9:00-11:25pm
|
12.6
|
21,792
|
| PGA Championship: Final Round |
8/12
|
CBS
|
2:00-7:00pm
|
3.4
|
4,884
|
| PGA Championship: Third Round* |
8/11
|
CBS
|
2:00-7:00pm
|
2.0
|
2,801
|
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
Zippo 200 at The Glen |
8/11
|
ABC
|
2:30-5:00pm
|
1.2
|
1,723
|
The Alt Games: College Action
Sports Championship |
8/12
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
n/a
|
| Liga MX: CD Guadalajara-Monarcas |
8/12
|
Telem.
|
6:55-9:08pm
|
0.3
|
610
|
TD Ameritrade College
Home Run Derby (repeat) |
8/11
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.3
|
n/a
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: * = Coverage on Saturday from 2:30-5:00pm was live. Coverage was rained out during the rest of the telecast.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup:
Finger Lakes 355 (Watkins Glen) |
8/12
|
ESPN
|
1:00-4:00pm
|
2.8
|
4,473
|
| NFL Preseason: Packers-Chargers |
8/9
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:13pm
|
2.1
|
3,386
|
| London Olympics |
8/9
|
NBCSN
|
12:00-8:00pm
|
1.5
|
2,244
|
| London Olympics |
8/6
|
NBCSN
|
12:00-8:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,155
|
| "NASCAR Countdown" |
8/12
|
ESPN
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,399
|
| PGA Championship: Second Round |
8/10
|
TNT
|
1:00-8:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,389
|
| London Olympics |
8/8
|
NBCSN
|
12:00-8:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,381
|
| London Olympics |
8/10
|
NBCSN
|
12:00-8:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,313
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
8/9
|
ESPN
|
7:00-8:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,264
|
PGA Championship:
Final Round (early) |
8/12
|
TNT
|
11:00am-2:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,261
|
