The Breeders’ Cup Classic on ESPN from 6:30-7:15pm ET earned a 1.2 overnight Nielsen rating for Drosselmeyer’s win on Saturday, down 61% from last year’s race, which featured Zenyatta attempting to remain defeated. ESPN also earned a 1.1 overnight for Breeders’ Cup coverage from 3:30-6:30pm, down 54% from similar coverage last year. Over on ABC, coverage from 2:00-3:30pm earned a 1.0 overnight, down 41% from last year. The Breeders’ Cup was a lead-in for ABC’s regionalized college football at 3:30pm, which earned a 4.5 overnight without competition from CBS’ traditional SEC matchup in that window. CBS’ LSU-Alabama game in primetime led all weekend college football, while Arkansas-South Carolina in the primetime window on ESPN earned a 1.4 overnight. ESPN’s top college football game over the weekend was Iowa’s upset of Michigan, which earned a 2.6 overnight in the 12:00pm window. On Sunday afternoon, ESPN earned a 2.8 overnight for the NASCAR Sprint Cup AAA Texas 500, up slightly from a 2.7 for the same race last year.
The chart below lists overnight Nielsen ratings from weekend sports telecasts on broadcast TV (THE DAILY).
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. |
| Breeders' Cup World Championship | 11/5 | ABC | 2:00-3:30pm | 1.0 |
| College Football: (regional) | 11/5 | ABC | 3:30-7:00pm | 4.5 |
| College Football: (regional) | 11/5 | ABC | 8:00-11:30pm | 2.1 |
| "College Football 2011" | 11/5 | CBS | 2:30-3:00pm | 0.5 |
| "College Football Today" | 11/5 | CBS | 3:00-3:30pm | 0.7 |
| College Football: Army-Air Force | 11/5 | CBS | 3:30-6:45pm | 1.3 |
| College Football: LSU-Alabama | 11/5 | CBS | 8:00-11:30pm | 11.9 |
| ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating (taped) | 11/5 | NBC | 3:00-5:00pm | 0.7 |
| NFL Turning Point" (taped) | 11/5 | NBC | 5:00-6:00pm | 0.7 |
| "The NFL Today" | 11/6 | CBS | 12:00-1:00pm | 2.7 |
| "NFL on CBS": (single) | 11/6 | CBS | 1:00-4:05pm | 11.1 |
| "Fox NFL Sunday" | 11/6 | Fox | 12:00-1:00pm | 3.7 |
| "NFL on Fox": (regional) | 11/6 | Fox | 1:00-4:15pm | 9.7 |
"NFL on Fox": Giants-Patriots (55%);
Packers-Chargers (36%) | 11/6 | Fox | 4:15-7:30pm | 18.6 |
| "The OT" | 11/6 | Fox | 7:30-8:00pm | 9.0 |
| ING N.Y. Marathon (taped) | 11/6 | NBC | 2:00-4:00pm | 0.6 |
| Figure Skating: "Rain: A Tribute to The Beatles" (taped) | 11/6 | NBC | 4:00-6:00pm | 0.9 |
| "Football Night in America" | 11/6 | NBC | 7:30-8:15pm | 5.5 |
| "Sunday Night Football": Ravens-Steelers | 11/6 | NBC | 8:30-11:15pm | 14.2 |
