An unprecedented 81% of the population (15 years and older) were glued to screens across New Zealand to watch the opening game of the Rugby World Cup, according to the results of a survey conducted by Nielsen.

While the audience size for broadcast primetime remains strong at nearly 200 million viewers, the composition of the programming in the popular 8-11 p.m. time block has changed significantly over the past 10 years.

According to preliminary results from The Nielsen Company, last night’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on FOX had an average audience of 111 million viewers, making it the most watched television program of all time.

According to The Nielsen Sports Media Exposure Index, the Cowboys were still the most popular NFL team in America last season.

“The early buzz data makes one thing clear — controversy drives conversation,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of digital strategy at The Nielsen Company.

National broadcast and cable TV networks aired over 43,700 hours of sporting events in the U.S. last year, according to new statistics released in Nielsen’s report on “The Changing Face of Sports Media.” Nielsen also found that advertisers spent an estimated $7.6 billion on sports programming alone in 2009.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman doesn’t need to pick a side in tonight’s do-or-die Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. After all, history says that Bettman and the NHL have already won – at least when it comes to TV viewers.
The Nielsen Company looked back at the four Stanley Cup Finals match-ups that have gone the full seven games since 2000 and in each case, Game 7 was a ratings windfall. For example, games one through six of the 2006 finals between Edmonton and Carolina averaged 2.4 million viewers. Game …

The wait is finally over for anxious football fans, as the NFL’s annual Thursday Night Kickoff Game, tonight on NBC, will usher in this year’s NFL season.  The defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will take on their divisional foe, the Washington Redskins. 
Below are historical U.S. television ratings for NFL Kickoff Games since 2002.
In terms of TV ratings, the 2003 game, which drew 19.1 million U.S. viewers, is the year to beat.  Last year’s game attracted approximately 17.5 million viewers.

YEAR
NETWORK
MATCHUP
US HOUSEHOLD
AA%*
VIEWERS (P2+)

2007
NBC
New Orleans at Indianapolis
11.4
17,471,000

2006
NBC
Miami at Pittsburgh
12.6
19,043,000

2005
ABC
Oakland at New England
11.7
18,008,000

2004
ABC
Indianapolis at New England
11.4
16,888,000

2003
ABC
N.Y. Jets at Washington
12.9
19,149,000

2002
ESPN
San Francisco …

While primetime TV ratings continue to suffer, sports programming across the US has seen significant growth over the past few months.   Every major sporting event in the US over the past two months (The Kentucky Derby, The Belmont Stakes, The NBA Finals, The Stanley Cup Finals, The US Open Golf Championship) have enjoyed major successes. 
The highly-anticipated Summer Olympics in Beijing should continue the trend.  NBC will feature 1,400 hours of television coverage of the Summer Olympics with an additional 2,200 hours to be streamed online. 
The growth in sports programming comes on the …