A 2010 roundup and 2011 start-up in the broadcasting sports world:
ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” had its strongest audience rating season since the channel took over the franchise in 2006.
The cable sports goliath averaged more than 14.6 million weekly viewers, with the Dec. 27 New Orleans- Atlanta finale being the most- watched “MNF” game of the season and the third-most watched cable attraction ever.
Look for NBC, CBS and Fox also to boast season audience gains.
NBC should shout the loudest, because its Sunday night coverage regularly was the most-watched program of the week, beating network prime-time entertainment schedules.
More Tebow.
Tim Tebow has one more scheduled appearance on national television this season. ESPN profiles him at 5 p.m. Thursday, covering his life from his last college game (2010 Sugar Bowl) to the announcement he had been drafted by the Broncos.
ESPN controls bowl mania.
As couch potatoes are well aware, ESPN has a headlock on postseason college football. The network will air six of the seven remaining games, including the BCS championship game Jan. 10.
Who would have predicted five years ago that a cable network would have such dominance?
Nielsen’s rating research shows there are about 14 million households in the country without cable.
But that’s a minuscule figure, considering that in sports-oriented homes, cable TV is as important as indoor plumbing.
Must read.
I hope you read John Henderson’s terrific article in Sunday’s Post about .
Night moves work.
Overnight Nielsen ratings show that NBC’s airing of the NHL Winter Classic was a prime-time audience winner, particularly in the key 18-49 age demographic. Maybe the NHL and NBC will make this an annual outdoor evening attraction, which it was this year because of a rain delay.
Get back in the box.
Lacrosse moves into the sports scene at 7 p.m. Saturday with Altitude’s live coverage of the Colorado Mammoth’s season opener against the Washington Stealth, the National Lacrosse League champion.
This is the first of 15 Mammoth games on Altitude, which will air home games live and road contests on a slight time delay. John Gross and Andy Lindahl will call home- game action.
Worst sports quote of 2010.
“I think, personally, he should have been executed.” — Fox TV talker Tucker Carlson, discussing the Eagles’ Michael Vick
Irv and Joe.
You’ve probably heard that Irv Brown and Joe Williams will be together again on a weekday afternoon show on Mile High Sports Radio (1510 AM and 93.7 FM) beginning Jan. 15.
And you might have heard about the teaming on KPEN 1600 AM, where the duo had been working.
Williams talked about their move on-air before leaving the station two weeks ago; Brown has detailed the change during a taped spot.
How’s that for rare cooperation in the dog-eat-dog world of Denver sports talk radio?
KPEN is now completely national in its talk format, using mostly ESPN personalities.
Quotable.
“John Elway’s first order of business is to get on a plane and fly down to the Orange Bowl as a guest of Jim Harbaugh. Remember, they’ve got the Stanford connection, and Elway is going to work on that right away.” — Jay Glazer, Fox Sports NFL Insider
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Reach him at tvtime@comcast.net.
Greenspan’s legacy remembered
Calling the late Bud Greenspan, who died on Christmas, an Olympics icon doesn’t properly describe his contribution to TV sports coverage.
His films chronicling the Winter and Summer Games brought millions of viewers into a special athletic world.
Universal Sports on Saturday began airing “Nine Nights of Glory,” nine of Greenspan’s most memorable films.
Unfortunately, the series won’t reach the audience it deserves.
Universal Sports, reaching only 65 million viewers nationally, is on Comcast’s channel 250, a sports digital-tier channel.
The seven-night (7 p.m.) remaining schedule: Lillehammer ’94 tonight, Atlanta ’96 on Tuesday, Nagano ’98 on Wednesday, Sidney 2000 on Thursday, Salt Lake City ’02 on Friday, Athens ’04 on Saturday and Turin ’06 on Sunday.
