Each week, Nielsen Sports analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
This past weekend, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama faced some tough competition in Pennsylvania. 
With the Phillies playing in the World Series and college and pro football games on both Saturday and Sunday, there was no shortage of TV sports options for politics-weary Pennsylvanians, looking for a break from presidential campaigning.
The action started on Saturday in western Pennsylvania, as the Penn State Nittany Lions took on their Big 10 Rival, the Ohio State Buckeyes.  In nearby Pittsburgh, 20.8% of …

CBS’s “CSI” and “Survivor: Gabon” were the number one- and number three-ranked primetime telecasts on broadcast TV for Thursday, October 23, 2008.
ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was sandwiched in between the two, in second place.
Game two of the MLB World Series, which aired on FOX, claimed fourth place, with almost 12.8 million viewers, on average.

Rank
Program
Network
Viewers (P2+)

1
CSI
CBS
19,492,000

2
GREY’S ANATOMY-THU 9PM
ABC
14,451,000

3
SURVIVOR: GABON
CBS
13,309,000

4
FOX WORLD SERIES GAME 2(S)-10/23/2008
FOX
12,777,000

5
ELEVENTH HOUR
CBS
11,849,000

6
E.R.
NBC
8,818,000

7
SNL:WKND UPDT 10/23(S)-10/23/2008
NBC
8,796,000

8
UGLY BETTY
ABC
8,704,000

9
OFFICE
NBC
7,976,000

10
LIFE ON MARS
ABC
7,861,000

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 23, 2008).

Overall, CBS won the night with an average audience of almost 15 million viewers, while FOX took second …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Many in the media were hoping for a Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers World Series match-up, but the fans in Tampa and Philadelphia certainly aren’t complaining. 
In Philadelphia, the fourth largest U.S. TV market, 35.7% of all local households tuned in for the first game of the Series Wednesday night.  Viewership in the city of brotherly love has grown steadily throughout the playoffs.
That upwardly mobile TV ratings trend was also evident in the Tampa Bay market, where local …

The 2001 World Series telecasts (New York Yankees vs. Arizona Diamondbacks) claimed the largest U.S. TV audiences in recent memory: 24.5 million viewers per telecast, on average. 
But the late Seventies and early Eighties remain the true glory days of World Series TV viewership.
The 1980 World Series telecasts — the last time the Philadelphia Phillies won a World Series — drew the largest per game TV audiences on record: almost 54.9 million average viewers.

Baseball fans across the country might have been a little sleepy Friday morning after watching the Boston Red Sox’ late-night comeback victory against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the MLB American League championship Series.
The game, in which the Red Sox trailed the Rays by seven runs as late as the seventh inning, was a rollercoaster ride for both teams’ fans — as reflected in the preliminary metered market TV ratings, released by Nielsen on Friday.
At the close of the game’s first hour, one-quarter of all Boston households were watching, …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Professional baseball, football, basketball, hockey — and even NASCAR — all converge in October, making it one of the year’s busiest sports months.  Unfortunately, that plethora of options frequently presents sports fans with difficult TV viewing decisions.
Take this past Sunday — when NBC’s Sunday Night Football carried live coverage of the San Diego Chargers playing the New England Patriots.  Meanwhile, Game 3 of the MLB National League Championship Series aired live on FOX.

The combined overall household rating for Wednesday night’s final presidential debate, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 38.3. 
In comparison, last week’s debate between Senators McCain and Obama — the candidates’ second – received a 42.0 household rating in the top 55 local TV markets.  The candidates’ first debate on September 26 received a 34.7 household rating in the top 55 markets.
Wednesday night’s championship baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies — aired by FOX, instead of the debate – may have impacted the …

Tracking viewership for the first four games of the National League Championship between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers alongside the first three of the American League Championship between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, the NL games are averaging a greater audience. So far, the Game 3 matchup between the Phillies and Dodgers has the peak viewership for the playoffs with an average audience of 8.8 million viewers.

Game
Network
Date
Viewers P2+

LA DODGERS AT PHILADELPHIA
FOX
10/09/2008
7,735,000

LA DODGERS AT PHILADELPHIA
FOX
10/10/2008
5,022,000

PHILADELPHIA AT LA DODGERS
FOX
10/12/2008
8,837,000

PHILADELPHIA AT LA DODGERS
FOX
10/13/2008
7,705,000

BOSTON RED SOX AT …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
College Football: Quartet Of Upsets
Oregon State’s stunning upset of top ranked USC was only the harbinger of what was to come in a wild weekend of college football upsets. 
Oregon State’s victory last Thursday night drew 6.3 Million TV viewers, the largest audience for ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football this season.  The next day, the University of Michigan overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the (then) undefeated Wisconsin Badgers in front of 1.3 million ESPN viewers.
Meanwhile, the Southeastern …

Each week, Nielsen Sports’ analysts offer their take on the biggest sports media headlines.
Ryder Cup Golf — Minus Tiger
Last Friday morning, 1.4 million ESPN viewers tuned in to Ryder Cup golf coverage from Louisville, Kentucky.  With the world’s best golfer, Tiger Woods, sidelined, golf fans were introduced to Team USA Captain Paul Azinger’s rag-tag group of Ryder Cup rookies.  On Saturday, Ryder Cup’s TV audience more than doubled — an average of 3.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the tournament action on NBC, and on Sunday, 3.9 million NBC viewers watched …