ESPN earned a 9.5 overnight rating for the Vikings-Giants “MNF” telecast, up from Week 7 games in recent years as there was no competition from MLB postseason games. The 9.5 rating is up from a 7.3 overnight for Lions-Bears last year, which aired up against Fox’ Giants-Cardinals NLCS Game 7. Vikings-Giants was also up from a 7.0 overnight for Ravens-Jaguars in ’11, which aired up against Cardinals-Rangers World Series Game 5. In Minneapolis-St. Paul, last night’s game delivered a 12.3 local rating on ESPN and a 38.0 on WCCO-CBS. In N.Y., the game earned a 10.1 rating on ESPN and a 5.5 on WPIX-CW. Rounding out the top five markets were New Orleans (16.6), Las Vegas (14.2) and Tampa-St. Petersburg (14.1) (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
GET READY: VARIETY's Jon Weisman noted Oct. 29 brings the "100-days-to-go milespost on NBC’s road" to the Feb. 6 start of the Sochi Games. To mark that moment, the net will "officially launch what it’s calling a 20-channel 'promotional roadblock'" at 8:00pm ET that night. Viewers will "start to see the NBC Peacock bug with Olympic rings appearing with greater and greater frequency across NBC and the other NBCUniversal networks." The next "big push for the Olympics will take place in January, approximately 3 1/2 weeks before the Games begin, with Olympic promotional ads prioritized across 18 cable channels" (
VARIETY.com, 10/21).
TIGHT LIPPED: Actor Kevin Connolly, who directed "Big Shot," a new "30 for 30" documentary about former Islanders Owner John Spano, said it was "pretty difficult" to get Spano to talk for the film. Connolly: "For obvious reasons, he was hesitant. It wasn't something he was looking to do. ... I think the fact that I was coming to him, and that it was in the form of an ESPN 30 for 30, there's sort of a brand recognition there. I think he had an idea of what it was that he was getting himself into. ... He also just took me at my word that I was going to give him a fair chance to tell his side of the story" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 10/21). Spanos: "My family isn't happy. They all hoped it would stay in the past" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/19).
DAY BY DAY: THE MMQB's Peter King notes with the "emphasis on the head trauma issue evident all over football and society, The MMQB will spend this week publishing a series of stories taking the temperature of people across America -- high school coaches and players, parents of players, medical experts and current and former pro players -- about the game" (MMQB.SI.com, 10/22).
