RACING CIRCLES AND OLYMPIC RINGS: Fox’s coverage of NASCAR’s Auto Club 500 drew8.07 million households, down 6.3 percent from last year’s best-ever mark for the race. Thehousehold-viewership count, however, increased 18.2 percent from the comparable race in2002, which was the last time Fox’s NASCAR coverage went head-to-head with the WinterOlympics.
| Top 10 Network Sports Telecasts |
| Rank | Net. | Program | Date | Rating | Share | Households Watching
(000s) |
| 1 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/23 | 15.7 | 24 | 17,341 |
| 2 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/21 | 15.4 | 23 | 17,004 |
| 3 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/20 | 13.5 | 21 | 14,928 |
| 4 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/22 | 10.0 | 15 | 10,992 |
| 5 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/24 | 9.7 | 17 | 10,716 |
| 6 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/25 | 9.7 | 17 | 10,704 |
| 7 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (PRIME TIME) | 2/26 | 8.9 | 13 | 9,760 |
| 8 | FOX | NASCAR: Nextel Cup series AUTO CLUB 500 | 2/26 | 7.3 | 14 | 8,067 |
| 9 | FOX | NASCAR: AUTO CLUB 500 PRERACE | 2/26 | 4.9 | 11 | 5,415 |
| 10 | NBC | WINTER OLYMPICS (MIDNIGHT) | 2/25 | 4.1 | 11 | 4,471 |
DUKE ADDS TO RATINGS WINS: ESPN’s coverage of Duke-Georgia Tech men’s basketballdrew 1.5 million households, the net’s fourth-largest college basketball audience of the season.The same schools drew 1.13 million households for a Feb. 23, 2005, game on ESPN2 thatstands as that network’s eighth-biggest college basketball audience. Through Feb. 26, Dukehad played in three of ESPN’s four most-watched college games this season.
| Top 10 Cable Sports Telecasts |
| | | | (RATING) | | |
| Rank | Net | Program | Date | National | Cov. Area | Share | Households Watching
(000s) |
| 1 | FX | NASCAR: BUSCH SERIES STATER BROS. 300 | 2/25 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 4 | 1,873 |
| 2 | ESPN | NCAA BASKETBALL: DUKE-GEORGIA TECH | 2/22 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3 | 1,504 |
| 3 | TNT | NBA: SACRAMENTO-L.A. LAKERS | 2/23 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 3 | 1,347 |
| 4 | TNT | NBA: INDIANA-DETROIT | 2/23 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2 | 1,301 |
| 5 | ESPN | NCAA BASKETBALL: DUKE-TEMPLE | 2/25 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 3 | 1,279 |
| 6 | ESPN | NBA: BOSTON-L.A. LAKERS | 2/26 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 2 | 1,243 |
| 7 | ESPN | GOLF: WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPionship | 2/24 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 3 | 1,149 |
| 8 | USA | WINTER OLYMPICS (10 A.M. ET) | 2/20 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 3 | 1,146 |
| 9 | ESPN | NBA: LA. LAKERS-L.A. CLIPPERS | 2/24 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 3 | 1,126 |
| 10 | TNT | NBA: INDIANA-DETROIT PREGAME | 2/23 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 2 | 1,111 |
Rating — Estimated percent of all TV households of persons tuned to a specific program source. One ratings point equals 1,102,000 homes.
Share — Estimated percent of all households using television at that time which are tuned to a specific program source.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
