ESPN finished with a 3.0 rating and 4.9 million viewers for LSU's upset win Saturday night over No. 3-ranked Ole Miss, helping the net to its most-viewed college game of the '14 season. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 also combined to televise eight of the nine most-viewed college football games of the week ( THE DAILY ).
HOT FOR HOOPS : SportSouth pulled in the "largest audience for a Charlotte NBA game" since at least '08 on Wednesday night for Bucks-Hornets. The return of the Hornets nickname, "combined with a 24-point comeback win in overtime, was watched by 45,000 people." But as "good as that number was, it fell short" going head-to-head with Game 7 of the World Series. Giants-Royals averaged 192,000 viewers on WJZY-Fox ( BIZJOURNALS.com, 10/30 )....The Heat's season-opener Wednesday against the Wizards on earned a 9.7 local rating on Sun Sports. It was the "most watched program for the day in South Florida." Giants-Royals Game 7 drew a 7.9 local rating ( SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/30 )....The Knicks' season-opener against the Bulls drew a combined 4.9 local rating on MSG and ESPN, while the Nets' opener against the Celtics drew a 0.45 rating on YES Network ( NEWSDAY, 10/31 ).
CLIP SERVICE : ESPN finished with a 2.5 rating and 4.0 million viewers Sunday for its broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville, down from a 2.7 rating and 4.3 million viewers in '13. However, Sunday's numbers mark an increase from the '12 NSCS event at Martinsville, which drew a 2.4 rating and 3.6 million viewers ( THE DAILY ).
The chart below lists final ratings for recent sports telecasts.
