The Bills' 14-7 win over the Titans earned a "season-high" 41.7 local rating on WIVB-CBS, topping the 41.3 the station drew for the Week 4 Patriots-Bills game. Sunday marked the "highest-rated Bills game since a 43.1 rating" for the '17 season-finale win against the Dolphins that helped the team get to the playoffs (BUFFALO NEWS, 10/8). Meanwhile, Sunday's Bears-Raiders game was the "lowest-rated game of the season" in Chicago, as WFLD-Fox drew just a 25.0 local rating. Two possible factors are that the Raiders got an early 17-0 lead and that it "was the Bears' first noon start of the season" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/8).
WHAT ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE? In Montreal, Jack Todd wrote "HNIC" has become "little more than a public-relations outlet" for the Maple Leafs, as the team is often featured in the broadcast. Sportsnet has "turned itself into The Leafs Network," and "HNIC" has been "dragged along, like it or not." The Canadiens only have six appearances on "HNIC" this season, including all four games against the Leafs. Todd: "The Leafs-centric system has distorted the entire system of broadcasting and coverage of NHL hockey in Canada" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 10/7).
GO INSIDE CHAVEZ RAVINE: Dodgers P Ross Stripling earlier this season launched "The Big Swing" podcast alongside co-host Cooper Surles. The two provide "unfiltered interviews" with Stripling's teammates like CF Cody Bellinger and Ps Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler, while also featuring "coverage of other pro sports." It offers a "rare insider's POV" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 10/8).
