FOR THE WEEK OF 4/3/06 - 4/9/06
SHOWS BEFORE THE SHOWS: Audience interest in CBS’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship pregame show differed from what Fox saw for the lead-in to its NASCAR Samsung/RadioShack 500 coverage during the April 3-9 TV week. CBS’s “Prelude to a Championship” posted an average viewership of 7.15 million households, down 34 percent from last year. Fox’s prerace audience was smaller, with 4 million households, but up 18 percent from last year.
| Top 10 Network Sports Telecasts |
| Rank | Net. | Program | Date | Rating | Share | Households Watching
(000s) |
| 1 | CBS | NCAA MEN'S BKTBL CHAMPIONSHIP: FLORIDA-UCLA | 4/03 | 11.2 | 18 | 12,294 |
| 2 | CBS | GOLF: THE MASTERS (FINAL ROUND) | 4/09 | 8.4 | 19 | 9,241 |
| 3 | CBS | PRELUDE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP | 4/03 | 6.5 | 10 | 7,146 |
| 4 | CBS | NCAA MEN'S BKTBL CHAMPIONSHIP POSTGAME | 4/03 | 6.2 | 13 | 6,799 |
| 5 | FOX | NASCAR: NCS SAMSUNG/RADIOSHACK 500 | 4/09 | 5.4 | 13 | 5,944 |
| 6 | CBS | GOLF: THE MASTERS (THIRD ROUND)* | 4/08 | 4.9 | 12 | 5,376 |
| 7 | FOX | NASCAR: SAMSUNG/RADIOSHACK 500 PRERACE | 4/09 | 3.6 | 10 | 3,994 |
| 8 | CBS | GOLF: THE MASTERS (FIRST ROUND HIGHLIGHTS) | 4/06 | 3.3 | 8 | 3,656 |
| 9 | CBS | GOLF: THE MASTERS (SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS) | 4/07 | 2.8 | 7 | 3,129 |
| 10 | FOX | NASCAR: BUSCH SERIES O'REILLY 300 | 4/08 | 2.3 | 6 | 2,589 |
WOMEN’S TOURNEY SCORES: More than 2.76 million households watched this year’s NCAA women’s basketball championship game on ESPN, surpassing last year’s total by 17 percent. The game was the week’s most-viewed cable sports program and No. 14 overall on cable. The tournament’s full 63 games averaged 1.32 million households, the event’s best-average ever and up 31 percent over last year.
| Top 10 Cable Sports Telecasts |
| | | | (RATING) | | |
| Rank | Net | Program | Date | National | Cov. Area | Share | Households Watching
(000s) |
| 1 | ESPN | NCAA WOMEN'S BKTBL CHAMPionship: DUKE-MARYLAND | 4/04 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 5 | 2,764 |
| 2 | USA | GOLF: THE MASTERS (THIRD ROUND)* | 4/09 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 8 | 2,456 |
| 3 | USA | GOLF: THE MASTERS (SECOND ROUND) | 4/07 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 6 | 2,271 |
| 4 | ESPN | MLB: SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL: ST. LOUIS-CHICAGO | 4/09 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 4 | 2,081 |
| 5 | USA | GOLF: ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING | 4/09 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 6 | 1,934 |
| 6 | ESPN | NCAA WOMEN'S BKTBL CHAMPIONSHIP POSTGAME | 4/04 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 4 | 1,885 |
| 7 | SPIKE | UFC: THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER | 4/06 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 3 | 1,747 |
| 8 | USA | GOLF: THE MASTERS (FIRST ROUND) | 4/06 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 5 | 1,744 |
| 9 | TNT | NBA: DETROIT-MIAMI | 4/06 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 3 | 1,632 |
| 10 | SPIKE | UFC: ULTIMATE FIGHT NIGHT 4 | 4/06 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 2 | 1,459 |
Rating — Estimated percent of all TV households of persons tuned to a specific program source. One ratings point equals 1,096,000 homes.
Share — Estimated percent of all households using television at that time which are tuned to a specific program source.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
*Note: On Sunday morning, April 9, USA covered the remaining holes of Saturday’s weather-delayed third round.
