Final Ratings: "NFL AM" Audience Above "Morning Drive," But Below "Mike & Mike"

NFL Network’s weekday morning show “NFL AM” averaged 81,000 viewers in the three weeks since its debut on July 30. The show’s top audience to date was 117,000 viewers last Friday. During the same three-week period, Golf Channel’s “Morning Drive” show averaged 23,000 viewers, including a week of shows live from the PGA Championship, while ESPN2’s simulcast of ESPN Radio's “Mike & Mike in the Morning” averaged 186,000 viewers for its four-hour slot on weekday mornings (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Fox’ Bengals-Falcons preseason game on Aug. 16 finished with a 3.1 rating/4.7 million viewers, helping the net to its best Thursday primetime audience since May 24 (Fox)….WNDY-TV in Indianapolis earned a 17.9 local rating for the Rams-Colts preseason game on Aug. 12, marking the best figure in the market for a Colts preseason game since ’84, “the year the team arrived in Indianapolis from Baltimore.” The game peaked at a 36.7 rating from 9:15-9:30pm ET when rookie Colts QB Andrew Luck was playing (INDYSTAR.com, 8/20)….WKYC-NBC in Cleveland earned a 21.0 local rating for the Packers-Browns preseason game on Aug. 16, marking the best rating for a Browns preseason game in the Cleveland-Akron market since ’99 (Browns).

QUICK KICKS: Univision averaged 3.99 million viewers for the U.S. men’s national soccer team friendly against Mexico on Aug. 15. The same telecast on ESPN2 averaged 797,000 viewers. Univision’s telecast was the No. 1 show in primetime for the night, regardless of language, among adults 18-34 and men 18-49 and 18-34....The '12-13 EPL season kicked off last weekend, and ESPN averaged 476,000 viewers in the U.S. for its Sunderland-Arsenal season-opening broadcast. Meanwhile, Fox Soccer aired six EPL matches on opening weekend. The net's top audience was 275,000 viewers for last Sunday's Southampton-Manchester City match (Karp).

NOTES: Showtime averaged 529,000 viewers for the Strikeforce MMA event last Saturday night, which was headlined by a women’s bout featuring Ronda Rousey and Sarah Kaufman. That figure is the largest MMA audience on Showtime this year to date (SI.com, 8/22)….Golf Channel averaged 424,000 viewers on Monday for the conclusion of the rain-delayed final round at the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship, leading the net to its best total-day audience for a Monday since the final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions to start the ’12 PGA Tour season in January. The final round in January was scheduled to finish on a Monday (Karp).

The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.

TELECAST	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
NFL Preseason: Colts-Steelers	8/19	NBC	8:07-11:01pm	6.0	9,506
NFL Preseason: Bengals-Falcons	8/16	Fox	8:06-11:34pm	3.1	4,747
NFL Preseason: Ravens-Lions	8/17	Fox	8:06-11:34pm	2.6	3,980
Soccer friendly: U.S.-Mexico	8/15	Univ.	7:30-9:13pm	1.9	3,986
MLB: (regional) (Red Sox-Yankees, 72%)	8/18	Fox	4:00-7:15pm	1.6	n/a
LLWS: Goodlettsville, Tenn.- Petaluma, Calif.	8/19	ABC	2:00-4:45pm	1.3	n/a
PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship: Third Round	8/18	CBS	3:00-6:00pm	1.2	n/a
PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship: Final Round (rained out)	8/19	CBS	3:00-6:00pm	1.1	n/a
Golf: U.S. Amateur Championship: Final Round	8/19	NBC	4:00-6:00pm	0.8	n/a
LLWS: Fairfield, Conn.-Kearney, Neb.	8/18	ABC	3:00-5:30pm	0.7	n/a
ATP World Tour: Western & Southern Open Final: Federer d. Djokovic	8/19	CBS	12:30-2:45pm	0.7	n/a
"College Football Preview Show"	8/18	CBS	1:00-2:00pm	0.4	n/a
Dew Tour: Pantech Beach Championships	8/18	NBC	1:00-3:00pm	0.4	n/a
AMA Motocross	8/18	NBC	3:00-4:00pm	0.4	n/a
Dew Tour: Pantech Beach Championships	8/19	NBC	2:00-4:00pm	0.4	n/a
Liga MX: Santos Laguna-UNAM	8/18	Telef.	7:53-10:00pm	0.3	500
"PGA Tour 2012: Playing With a Purpose"	8/18	CBS	2:00-3:00pm	0.3	n/a
Golf: U.S. Amateur Championship: Third Round	8/18	NBC	4:00-6:00pm	0.3	n/a
TELECAST	DATE	NET	TIME (ET)	RAT.	VIEWERS (000)
NFL Preseason: Cowboys-Raiders	8/13	ESPN	8:00-10:58pm	3.5	5,371
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Pure Michigan 400	8/19	ESPN	1:00-4:10pm	3.3	5,200
MLB: Red Sox-Yankees	8/19	ESPN	7:59-11:03pm	1.5	2,179
NFL Preseason: Jets-Giants	8/18	NFLN	7:00-10:03pm	1.3	1,896
NASCAR Nationwide Series: NAPA Auto Parts 200	8/18	ESPN	2:30-6:11pm	1.2	1,720
"NASCAR Countdown"	8/19	ESPN	12:00-1:00pm	1.1	1,682
"Monday Night Countdown"	8/13	ESPN	7:00-8:00pm	1.1	1,541
LLWS: San Antonio, Texas- New Castle, Indiana	8/19	ESPN	5:00-7:31pm	1.1	1,537
NFL Preseason: Cowboys-Chargers	8/18	NFLN	10:03pm-12:12am	1.0	1,384
LLWS: Japan-Taiwan	8/19	ESPN2	7:31-10:14pm	0.7	1,067