Sports Media Digest- April 27, 2012

http://sportsmediajournal.com/ First Round of NFL Draft Gets Record Viewership- Last night’s first round of the NFL Draft was the most watched ever, according to the NFL. Combined coverage on ESPN and the NFL Network drew an average rating of 5.28, a 18% increase over 2011. The combined two-network average of 8.1 million viewers is up 16 percent from last year and ranks as the second-most-watched first round ever. ESPN reported an audience of 6.6 million viewers while the NFL Network had a viewership of 1.4 million. First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Most Watched Ever- Equally good news from NBC Sports which reports that the first roun of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs was a ratings and viewership success. The audience of all games on the networks of NBC averaged 929,000 viewers, making them the most-watched first round on record. TNT Has Most Successful NBA Regular Season on Record- Not to be undone, TNT is echoing news from ESPN and NBA TV in claiming the 2011-2012 NBA regular season the highest rated and most viewed in network history. This year’s scheduled had an average rating of 1.7, 6% over last year. The average audience was nearly 2.5 million viewers, up 4% from a year ago. Tigers/Yankees on TBS Sunday Baseball- This weekend’s Sunday MLB on TBS will feature the Detroit Tigers at the New York Yankees. Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, and John Smoltz call the action beginning at 1:00p.m. ET. NFL Network Debuts Top 100 of 2012 This Weekend- Following its coverage of the NFL Draft, the NFL Network will debut its look at the best players for 2012. The Top 100: Players of 2012 Presented by Buffalo Wild Wings will debut tomorrow night at 8:00p.m. ET.