This past weekend saw a heavy slate of sports programming, led by the opening Sunday of the NFL regular season, Week 2 of the college football season and the U.S. Open women’s final. NASCAR also concluded its “regular season” on Saturday night, as next Sunday starts the Chase for the Sprint Cup. ABC drew a 2.7 overnight rating for the Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts from Richmond, down from a 2.9 rating for the same race on the same weekend in both '13 and '12.
LONG DRIVE COMPETITION: NBC drew a 1.5 overnight for the final round of the PGA Tour BMW Championship yesterday, which saw Billy Horschel win the third event in FedExCup Playoffs by two strokes over Bubba Watson. Last year’s BMW Championship aired up against Week 2 of the NFL and had weather delays. Final round coverage in ’13 drew a 0.9 overnight on NBC, but the weather delays forced the event to finish on Golf Channel the following day. The final round in ’12 drew a 2.6 overnight against Week 1 of the NFL, but that Sunday telecast saw Rory McIlroy hold off Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson by two strokes, with Tiger Woods three strokes back in fourth place.
The chart below lists overnight ratings from weekend sports telecasts on broadcast TV.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
| U.S. Open: Women's Semifinals |
9/5
|
CBS
|
1:45-6:00pm
|
1.4
|
| College Football: (regional) |
9/6
|
ABC
|
12:00-3:00pm
|
2.1
|
| College Football: USC-Stanford |
9/6
|
ABC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
4.6
|
| "NASCAR Countdown" |
9/6
|
ABC
|
7:00-7:30pm
|
2.3
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Federated Auto Parts 400 (Richmond) |
9/6
|
ABC
|
7:30-11:00pm
|
2.7
|
| U.S. Open: Men's Semifinals |
9/6
|
CBS
|
12:00-6:00pm
|
1.9
|
| MLB: (regional) |
9/6
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
1.1
|
| College Football: Oregon-Michigan State |
9/6
|
Fox
|
6:30-10:00pm
|
4.0
|
| "Notre Dame Reborn" |
9/6
|
NBC
|
1:30-2:30pm
|
0.4
|
| "Legacy of Payne" |
9/6
|
NBC
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
| PGA Tour: BMW Championship: Third Round |
9/6
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.4
|
| College Football: Michigan-Notre Dame |
9/6
|
NBC
|
7:30-11:00pm
|
3.0
|
| "World of X Games: ASP Surfing" |
9/7
|
ABC
|
2:30-3:30pm
|
2.4
|
| WNBA Finals: Sky-Mercury: Game 1 |
9/7
|
ABC
|
3:30-6:00pm
|
0.4
|
| "The NFL Today" |
9/7
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3.0
|
| NFL: (singleheader) |
9/7
|
CBS
|
1:00-4:05pm
|
11.2
|
U.S. Open: Women's Final:
Serena Williams d. Carolina Wozniacki |
9/7
|
CBS
|
4:30-6:45pm
|
4.0
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
9/7
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3.6
|
| NFL: (regional) |
9/7
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
9.4
|
| NFL: 49ers-Cowboys (89%) |
9/7
|
Fox
|
4:15-7:30pm
|
17.4
|
| "The OT" |
9/7
|
Fox
|
7:30-8:00pm
|
8.9
|
| "Road to the Ryder Cup" |
9/7
|
NBC
|
1:30-2:00pm
|
0.3
|
| PGA Tour: BMW Championship: Final Round |
9/7
|
NBC
|
2:00-6:15pm
|
1.5
|
| "Football Night in America" |
9/7
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
6.2
|
| "Sunday Night Football": Colts-Broncos |
9/7
|
NBC
|
8:30-11:15pm
|
15.1
|
