Weekend TV sports ratings: Hits and misses
- Once again, in a battle of the NFL vs. MLB, NFL regular-season action crushed an MLB playoff game
- NBC is making hay this season on its package with Notre Dame, still undefeated
- Tonight's NFL game and Game 7 of MLB's NLCS go vs. the last presidential debate
CBS' New York Jets-New England Patriots game was the weekend's top NFL draw, ABC's Saturday night coverage was the top college football TV attraction and Fox's National League Championship Series Game 6 on Sunday was up over last year's comparable coverage:
The weekend's TV sports box office:
*Top draw: Jets-Pats, the main game in CBS' NFL doubleheader, drew a 16.2 overnight rating, translating to 16.2% of households in the 56 urban markets measured for overnights. That's even with comparable coverage of a Green Bay Packers-Minnesota Vikings game last year.
*Big gain: NBC's coverage of the Pittsburgh's Steelers win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night drew an 11.7 overnight -- up a whopping 43% over comparable coverage of a Indianapolis Colts-New Orleans Saints game last year.
*Solid: ABC's Saturday night regionalized college football -- Baylor-Texas/Florida Stater-Miami -- didn't seem all that mediagenic on paper. But it drew a 3.5 overnight to top CBS' 3.3 overnight for Florida blowing out South Carolina.
*Undefeated Irish: NBC continues to luck out with No. 5 Notre Dame still undefeated and drew a 2.7 overnight for the team's win against BYU on Saturday -- about even with comparable coverage of a Southern California-Notre Dame game last year.
This Saturday, ABC gets to take advantage of Notre Dame's appeal with the Irish at No. 7 Oklahoma in prime time.
*MLB hangs in: Fox's St. Louis Cardinals-San Francisco Giants NLCS Game 6 on Sunday night drew a 5.5 overnight, up 6% compared to Fox's Texas Rangers-Detroit Tigers American League Champioonship Series Game 6 last year -- which was played on a Saturday night and didn't compete against NFL action.
Networks love playoff series to last as long as possible -- ratings tend to build with each game. But Fox's NLCS Game 7 tonight faces some tough competition going against ESPN's Monday night NFL game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears and the final presidential campaign debate.
And in case you missed it, TBS last week scored an anomaly: Its ALCS coverage, despite going only four games as the Detroit Tigers swept the New York Yankees, averaged 3.8% of U.S. households -- up 31% over its comparable coverage of the NLCS last year. That's a testament to the Yankees' drawing power.