RAVENS-COWBOYS ON NFL NETWORK FOURTH-HIGHEST RATED SPORTING EVENT ON CABLE IN 2008
NFL.com LIVE Averages Record 57 Minutes per Visitor
Last Saturday’s Baltimore Ravens-Dallas Cowboys game on NFL Network posted a 9.22 cable rating – tied for the fourth-highest cable rating of any sporting event in 2008.
The three highest-rated sporting events on cable this year are ESPN Monday Night Football games. Ravens-Cowboys on NFL Network tied for fourth with American League Championship Series Game 7 (Rays-Red Sox) on TBS. Ravens-Cowboys out-rated the highest-rated event for all other sports on cable in 2008.
Online, fans watched for a record 57 minutes per visitor to NFL.com Live: Saturday Night Football coverage of Ravens-Cowboys, featuring live “look-ins” at :15 and :45 of each hour, select “red zone” possessions and other key moments, during the game broadcast. Fans watched nearly one million NFL.com Live video streams on Saturday night.
All 24 NFL Network regular-season games (eight per season since 2006) have been the top-rated show of the day on cable. Ravens-Cowboys is the highest-rated game on NFL Network this season and the second-highest rated game in NFL Network history (Packers-Cowboys, 11/29/07, 14.6 rating).
Following are the five highest-rated cable sports programs in 2008 and a comparison of NFL Network’s Ravens-Cowboys to other top rated sporting events on cable this year:
Five Highest-Rated Sporting Events on Cable, 2008
Sporting Event
Cable Rating
ESPN Monday Night Football (Eagles-Cowboys), 9/15
13.27
ESPN Monday Night Football (Steelers-Redskins), 11/3
10.20
ESPN Monday Night Football (Vikings-Packers), 9/8
9.27
NFL Network Saturday Night Football (Ravens-Cowboys), 12/20
9.22
TBS MLB Playoffs (ALCS Game 7 – Rays-Red Sox), 10/19
9.22
Ravens-Cowboys on NFLN vs. Top Rated Sporting Events on Cable, 2008
Sporting Event
Cable Rating
NFL Network Saturday Night Football (Ravens-Cowboys), 12/20
9.22
TBS MLB Playoffs (ALCS Game 7 – Rays-Red Sox), 10/19
9.22
TNT NBA Playoffs (West Conf. Finals Gm 4 – Lakers-Spurs), 5/27
5.62
ESPN Nascar Sprint Cup, 7/27
5.09
TNT NBA All-Star Game, 2/17
4.50
ESPN U.S. Open Golf (Monday playoff – Woods-Mediate), 6/16
4.21
Versus NHL Stanley Cup Final (Gm 2 – Red Wings-Penguins), 5/26
1.97
Golf Channel PGA WGC Match Play Final (Tiger Woods wins), 2/24
1.65
Source: Nielsen Media Research, NFL Network (coverage area ratings from 1/1/08-12/21/08)
NFL Network airs seven days a week, 24 hours a day on a year-round basis and is the only network fully dedicated to the NFL and the sport of football. For more information, log onto http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork. NFL.com is the exclusive internet home of NFL Network.
Courtesy NFL Communications
The Maine Sports Blog 