Sports Media Digest- January 4, 2012

Ratings numbers are the top stories of today’s digest…

NBC Releases Final 2011 Sunday Night Football Ratings- We told you Monday that NBC’s Sunday Night Football (SNF) game between the Cowboys and Giants was the highest rated SNF telecast in the six years of the series. Today NBC released figures proclaiming SNF as the prime time ratings winner in all of television for the fall season. Over the course of the fall SNF had an average rating of 12.9 with an audience of 21.5 million viewers, slightly below the 2010 rating of 13.0 and an audience of 21.8 million viewers.

Fox Sports Also Boasts Season NFL Numbers- Not to be outdone, Fox Sports reports that its 2011 NFL season ratings numbers were equally impressive. Fox had an average rating of 12.0 with an audience of 20.1 million viewers. The rating was 2% higher than 2010 while the audience remained the same as a year ago. The 12.0 rating is also the highest season NFL rating for Fox in the last 16 years.

NFL Ratings Continue to Dominate in Local Markets- The NFL is announcing that week 17 games in the league were the number one rated program in all 30 local NFL markets. For the season, NFL games were the number one rated shows in the local markets 91% of the time.

BCS Ratings Up For ESPN- After three BCS games, ratings for ESPN are up. The network reports a composite 9.5 household coverage rating for the Rose, Fiesta, and Sugar Bowls, up three percent from last year’s 9.2. All key male and adult demos are up, led by Adults 18-34 and Men 18-34 up 14 and 11 percent, respectively.

Lockout Not Impacting Ratings on NBA TV- NBA TV reports record viewership for the opening week of the 2011-2012 season. Over the first week NBA TV is averaging 405,000 total viewers, up 120% over the opening week of the 2010-2011 season. Last week’s Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Clippers match-up was the most viewed regular season game ever on the network, with an average of 722,000 viewers.

Golf Channel Sees Record Ratings Numbers for 2011- More good news from the NBC Sports Group as the Golf Channel reports that 2011 was it most watched year ever. Viewership last year was up 30% over 2010 and 3% over 2009.

HBO’s 24/7 Winter Classic Series Finale is Tomorrow Night- HBO is set to put the wraps on its 2012 version of its behind-the-scenes look at the NHL Winter Classic. The finale episode of 24/7 Flyers/Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic will debut tomorrow night at 10:00p.m. ET/PT. The final episode looks at the final preparations for the game and the events of the game itself.

The Journey Returns to Big Ten Network- For the fifth straight season the Big Ten Network (BTN) will once again produce The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2012. This ten week documentary-style series will go behind the scenes with Big Ten teams through the conference season. The debut episode will air beginning SUnday, January 8th, at 8:00p.m. ET.

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