Sports Media Digest- October 2, 2012

http://sportsmediajournal.com/page/2/ Monday Night Football Makes Gains for ESPN- The final numbers from Monday Night Football’s telecast featuring the Bears and Cowboys gave ESPN a rating of 12.3, winning the night for the network on both broadcast and cable television. The game reached an average of 16.6 million viewers. Through four weeks, Monday Night Football is averaging a 10.4 rating and 13.9 million viewers, up 8% and 7% respectively form a year ago. Through Four Weeks, NBC is Having Best SNF Year Ever- NBC Sports reported today that through four weeks of the NFL season all five games in its Sunday Night Football (including the Wednesday opener) had had at least 21 million viewers, the first time the network has reached such success in the seven years it has held the Sunday night package. The five game average is 23.3 million viewers, the most-watched to start a season on prime time in 16 years. The four week avergae rating of 14.2 is also the best in NBC’s seven year SNF reign. ABC Has Highest Rated College Football Games of the Week- ESPN reports that last Saturday afternoon’s Ohio State/Michigan State game on ABC had a 3.3 rating and an average of 4.975 million viewers, making it the most-watched college game of the weekend. ABC’s Saturday night telecast between Wisconsin and Nebraska had a 2.7 rating and 4.258 million viewers, the most watched prime time game that night. NFL Network Replays for the Week- The NFL Network (NFLN) will replay three games from the weekend over the next two nights. Tonight at 8:00p.m. ET NFLN will replay the Panthers at Falcons. At 9:30p.m. ET the Saints and Packers will get another run on the air. Tomorrow at 9:00p.m. ET the NFLN will replay the Giants at Eagles. At 10:30p.m. ET tomorrow NFLN will feature the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers and the Eagles’ Kurt Coleman on the next edition of Sound FX. The Battle for the AL East Crown Will Play Out Wednesday on ESPN and ESPN2- ESPN has announced that it plans to provide coverage of the final two games of the season Wednesday night which could decide the champion of the AL East. At 7:00p.m. ET on ESPN the Yankees host the Red Sox with Dan Shulman, Terry Francona, Orel Hershiser, and Buster Olney on the call. At the same time on ESPN2 Sean McDonough, Aaron Boone, Rick Sutcliffe and Tim Kurkjian will have coverage of the Orioles at Rays. ESPN will also follow Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and his quest to secure the Triple Crown. Trio of Games to be Featured on NBCSN’s NFL Turning Point- This week’s edition of the NBC Sports Network’s (NBCSN) NFL Turning Point will feature a look back at the Saints/Packers, Panthers/Falcons, and Giants/Eagles. Dan Patrick along with Rodney Harrison and Tony Dungy host the program tomorrow at 10:00p.m. ET.