The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is averaging a 2.8 rating and 4.5 million viewers for the four races held as scheduled across ESPN and ABC, up 8% and 7%, respectively, from a 2.6 rating and 4.2 million viewers last year (five races). The first Chase race from Chicagoland Speedway was rained out and run on a Monday. This past weekend’s Bank of America 500 from Charlotte Motor Speedway on ABC -- which is the only Chase race on broadcast TV -- earned a 3.2 rating (5.4 million viewers), flat compared to the same race last year.
WHAT’S UP DOC: ESPN Films' fall slate of documentaries has averaged 962,000 viewers for the premieres of the first three films, which has included “Catching Hell,” “Renée” and “The Dotted Line.” “Catching Hell,” which was director Alex Gibney’s look at sports scapegoating around Steve Bartman and Bill Buckner, has had the top premiere thus far with 1.4 million viewers on Sept. 27. That figure was higher than audience for all but six of the “30 for 30” premieres on the net. “Renée” averaged 508,000 viewers for its premiere and “The Dotted Line” averaged 810,000 viewers.
The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
| "NFL on Fox": Cowboys-Patriots (88%) | 10/16 | Fox | 4:44-7:35pm | 17.1 | 28,443 |
| "NFL on Fox": (regional) | 10/16 | Fox | 1:03-4:44pm | 10.5 | 17,201 |
| "Sunday Night Football": Vikings-Bears | 10/16 | NBC | 8:31-11:16pm | 10.1 | 16,568 |
| "NFL on CBS": (single) | 10/16 | CBS | 1:00-4:05pm | 8.8 | 14,533 |
| "The OT" | 10/16 | Fox | 7:35-8:00pm | 7.9 | 12,770 |
| "Football Night in America" | 10/16 | NBC | 7:30-8:15pm | 4.8 | 7,760 |
| ALCS: Rangers-Tigers: Game Six | 10/15 | Fox | 8:02-11:35pm | 4.6 | 7,702 |
| "Fox NFL Sunday" | 10/16 | Fox | 12:00-1:00pm | 4.0 | 6,100 |
| College Football: (regional) | 10/15 | ABC | 3:30-7:00pm | 3.8 | 5,587 |
NASCAR Sprint Cup:
Bank of America 500 (Charlotte) | 10/15 | ABC | 7:30-11:30pm | 3.2 | 5,396 |
| College Football: LSU-Tennessee | 10/15 | CBS | 3:30-6:55pm | 2.8 | 4,447 |
| "The NFL Today" | 10/16 | CBS | 12:00-1:00pm | 2.1 | n/a |
Izod IndyCar Series World
Championships (Las Vegas)* | 10/16 | ABC | 3:33-6:32pm | 1.6 | 2,448 |
| PBR: Cooper Tires Invitational (taped) | 10/16 | CBS | 5:00-6:00pm | 1.1 | 1,546 |
| World Gymnastics Championships: (taped) | 10/15 | NBC | 1:00-3:00pm | 0.8 | 1,339 |
| World Gymnastics Championships: (taped) | 10/16 | NBC | 2:00-4:00pm | 0.7 | 1,035 |
| Horse Racing: Keeneland | 10/15 | NBC | 5:00-6:00pm | 0.6 | 873 |
| Dew Tour Championships | 10/15 | NBC | 3:30-5:00pm | 0.5 | 759 |
| Dew Tour Championships | 10/16 | NBC | 4:30-6:00pm | 0.5 | 647 |
| "College Football Today" | 10/15 | CBS | 3:00-3:30pm | 0.5 | n/a |
| Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (taped) | 10/15 | CBS | 2:00-3:00pm | 0.3 | n/a |
| | | | | | |
NOTE: * = Majority of coverage surrounded a crash on lap 11 that resulted in the death of driver Dan Wheldon. The race was called off following the accident.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
| "Monday Night Football": Bears-Lions | 10/10 | ESPN | 8:30-11:49pm | 10.3 | 16,378 |
| NLCS: Cardinals-Brewers: Game Six | 10/16 | TBS | 7:57pm-12:00am | 3.6 | 5,938 |
| NLCS: Cardinals-Brewers: Game Four | 10/13 | TBS | 7:57-11:38pm | 3.7 | 5,650 |
| NLCS: Cardinals-Brewers: Game Five | 10/14 | TBS | 7:57-11:23pm | 3.4 | 5,461 |
| College Football: Michigan-Michigan State | 10/15 | ESPN | 12:01-3:30pm | 3.3 | 4,777 |
| NLCS: Cardinals-Brewers: Game Three | 10/12 | TBS | 7:59-11:28pm | 2.8 | 4,282 |
| College Football: Arizona State-Oregon | 10/15 | ESPN | 10:26pm-1:49am | 2.5 | 3,868 |
| College Football: Florida-Auburn | 10/15 | ESPN | 7:00-10:26pm | 2.2 | 3,571 |
| "Monday Night Countdown" | 10/10 | ESPN | 7:00-8:30pm | 2.1 | 3,051 |
| NLCS: Cardinals-Brewers: Game Two | 10/10 | TBS | 7:57-11:49pm | 1.9 | 3,021 |
