CBS earned a 4.1 overnight Nielsen rating for the Army-Navy game on Saturday afternoon, up slightly from a 4.0 overnight last year. The 4.1 is the best overnight since a 4.2 rating in '09. The audience for the game has benefited from a move to its own weekend in '09, as the overnight for the matchup has not dipped below a 3.5 rating in the time frame. Army-Navy only hit that 3.5 overnight rating mark once from '00-08 (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
ANCHORS AWAY: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes Army-Navy "is one of sports' greatest traditions." When you "watch the pregame pageantry, you can't help but acknowledge just how special this game is." CBS did its "usual splendid job covering Army-Navy more as an 'event' than a 'game.'" The result of the game "certainly matters to the teams and those who are and were in the military, but for the rest of us, Army-Navy is about those serving this country" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 12/10). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick notes with three seconds left in the first half and Army "about to try a field goal, Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo called timeout, not one, but two -- consecutively -- that dubious strategy designed to 'ice' the kicker." CBS' Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson "giggled, uneasily." Mushnick: "I would have preferred to hear what each thought about it. After all, up until then we were told how 'the spirit' and all-that's-right about college football is displayed in this game." Mushnick writes, "Had a feeling Lundquist and Danielson didn't approve. Wish they would have told us how they felt." Following the game, CBS analyst Aaron Taylor added a "nice touch." Taylor addressed "despondent Army QB Trent Steelman, 0-for-4 vs. Navy and whose fumbled handoff killed his and Army’s last chance." Taylor said, "Life is 10 percent what happens to you, 90 percent what you do about it" (N.Y. POST, 12/10).
