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2008: A Record-Breaking Year Of Sports Viewing
Was 2008 the best sports year ever? At least in terms of viewer interest, there’s plenty of evidence to support that argument. Nielsen Sports reports on TV sports highlights from 2008..
NielsenWire: Weekly Sports Wrap
Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
December 19
NFL games airing in primetime are breaking records this season, and they share one common denominator: the Dallas Cowboys. First it was the thrilling September 15th matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles on ESPN’s Monday Night Football. The Cowboys prevailed in a 41-37 shootout watched by 18.6 million viewers, the most ever for a cable program.
Then on Sunday, the Cowboys scored another television record, defeating the New York Giants in front of 23 million viewers on NBC - the most-watched game in the network’s three year history broadcasting Sunday Night Football. And which team played in each of the next two most highly rated SNF games this season? The Cowboys, of course.
NFL Network
Meanwhile, the NFL Network is banking on the Cowboys’ primetime appeal as Dallas takes on the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night in a game that has playoff ramifications for both teams.
With college football on the sidelines, this weekend’s game is NFLN’s first Saturday night telecast of the season. Thursday night games on the network are so far proving to be a success for the league’s cable outlet. According to Nielsen’s latest coverage estimates, the network is available in 37% of television households across the country, with Thursday night games attracting an average of 3.4 million viewers, despite stiff primetime competition on other networks.
Read this week's full Sports Wrap (including Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night NFL Football Charts) >
Sports Wrap Weekly Archives
December 11- NCAA Football Season Review, Heisman Preview
December 3- NHL Teams On Ratings Power Play
November 20- NBA Teams Putting Up Big Local Numbers
November 6- Sports Ads, PR, Help Obama Win Political Super Bowl
October 29- A Tale Of Two (Pennsylvania) Cities
October 23- Phillies, Rays Local Fans Flock To TVs For World Series Coverage
October 16- Sunday Night Sports — Is More, Better?
October 9- MLB Division Series Review; Championship Series Preview
October 3- College Football Upsets; Good-Bye, Shea Stadium; Chicago, Chicago!
September 25 - Ryder Without Tiger; Cowboys And Packers’ Big Score; Yankee Stadium Finale
| Broadcast | Network | US HH AA% * | Viewers (P2+) |
| CBS NFL SINGLE (PIT @ TEN - 41% CVG) | CBS | 12.3 | 20,000,000 |
| FOX NFL SUNDAY-NATIONAL (ATL @ MIN - 54% CVG) | FOX | 11.8 | 19,208,000 |
| NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (CAROLINA @ NY GIANTS) | NBC | 11.5 | 18,858,000 |
| FOX NFL SUNDAY-REGIONAL (ARI @ NE - 83% CVG) | FOX | 6.3 | 9,719,000 |
| NCAA BASKETBALL-SAT-2 (UCONN @ GONZAGA) | CBS | 1.7 | 2,633,000 |
*US HH AA% : Percentage of US households - Average Audience during entire telecast
Top 5 Cable Programs for the Week of December 8, 2008| Cable | Network | CVG HH AA% * | Viewers (P2+) |
| NFL REGULAR SEASON L (CLE @ PHI) | ESPN | 7.5 | 9,882,000 |
| NFL REGULAR SEASON GAME (BAL @ DAL) | NFLN | 6.1 | 5,759,000 |
| COLL FTBALL-BOWL GAMES (4 TC) | ESPN | 2.0 | 2,686,000 |
| NBA REG SEASON-WED L (2 TC) | ESPN | 1.6 | 1,982,000 |
| NBA REG SEASON-FRI L (2 TC) | ESPN | 1.6 | 2,037,000 |
*CVG HH AA% : Percentage of Cable households -
Average Audience during entire telecast
*TC - Number of Telecasts
To access more sports data, go to our Trend Index.
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