Media Notes
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CBS Earns 3.4/7 Overnight Nielsen Rating
For Sunday's Duke-North Carolina Game |
The Duke-North Carolina men’s basketball game Sunday afternoon on CBS earned a 3.4/7 overnight Nielsen rating, up 13.3% from a 3.0/6 overnight in ’07, the last time CBS aired the matchup. The rating also represents the highest overnight for a regular-season college basketball game broadcast on CBS since the net drew a 3.9/8 for Duke-North Carolina in March '05 (THE DAILY). USA TODAY's Michael McCarthy notes CBS "cut away in the first minute of overtime" of the Northern Iowa-Illinois State Missouri Valley Conference championship in 13% of the country for the start of Duke-North Carolina. CBS Exec VP/Programming Mike Aresco said that the net "didn't get any viewer complaints" (USA TODAY, 3/10).
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joseph De Avila notes TV networks, including ESPN, CBS and Tennis Channel, are "airing more live games on their Web sites and adding features like extended interviews with players." AccuStream iMedia Research indicated that revenue for subscription sports programming in '08 "increased 16% over the year before" to $147M, though AccuStream is "projecting a more-modest [6-12%] increase in subscription revenue this year, in part because of the economy." Still, the medium "faces hurdles," as "complex licensing deals among the leagues, networks and other rights-holders need to be hammered out before an event goes online." As a result, events like the World Series and Super Bowl are "still a long way from being broadcast on the Web." Another "obstacle to growth is cost" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/10).
NET GAIN: In California, Leighton Ginn profiled Tennis Channel Chair & CEO Ken Solomon and noted he has "increased the channel's audience from about 5 million to 25 million, as well as secured broadcasting rights to all four majors" since he joined the net in '05. Solomon indicated that the "average income of the Tennis Channel viewer is $83,000," making its audience "tops in affluence." Ginn noted that becomes a "prime audience with advertisers." Solomon also "points out the Tennis Channel has a broader audience than other sports networks" (Palm Springs DESERT SUN, 3/9).
MISSING THE CUT: In San Diego, Jay Posner reports XETV-CW has become the first San Diego-area TV station to "completely eliminate its sports department." XETV "lost its affiliation with the Fox network lost summer, meaning the station no longer could offer any live sporting events." XETV VP & GM Richard Doutre Jones said that he "would not have cut the entire department had his station still carried network sports" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/10).
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