SKEDBALL: Weekend Sports TV Ratings

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The ratings below are household ratings from the 56 television markets with local Nielsen meters for Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8, 2014. The 56 markets (out of 210 total) cover about 70% of the US television population.

Horse Racing: Triple Crown

Belmont Stakes (Saturday)
4.0 rating NBC 4:30-5:00 pm (+190% from 2.1 in 2012; last year n/a)
7.4 rating NBC 5:00-6:15 pm (+196% from 2.5 last year; 3.1 in 2012)
12.9 rating NBC 6:15-7:00 pm (+180% from 4.6 last year; 5.4 in 2012)

Preakness Stakes Flashback Three Weeks Ago (Saturday May 17, 2014)
2.4 rating NBC 4:30-5:00 pm (same as 2.4 last year; 1.7 in 2012)
3.5 rating NBC 5:00-5:45 pm (-3% from 3.6 last year; 2.9 in 2012)
6.3 rating NBC 5:45-6:45 pm (+5% from 6.0 last year; 5.5 in 2012)

Kentucky Derby Flashback Five Weeks Ago (Saturday May 3, 2014)
4.0 rating NBC 4:30-5:00 pm (-2% from 4.1 last year; 3.7 in 2012)
5.9 rating NBC 5:00-6:00 pm (-5% from 6.2 last year; 5.4 in 2012)
10.1 rating NBC 6:00-6:45 pm (-3% from 10.4 last year; 9.0 in 2012)

Note: pre-race coverage ratings in italics. Race coverage in bold.

Will horse racing’s Triple Crown ever be won again?  The chart below shows how often a Triple Crown is even possible (a horse winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes) and how often a horse seals the deal and wins all three races including the Belmont Stakes.  Since 1980, about one in every three years offered a potential Triple Crown (11 years out of 35 or 31%).  This frequency is very much in line with most of the past (37% between 1950 and 1979 and 34% between 1920 and 1949).  But the success rate in those years has steadily declined.  Between 1920 and 1949, the majority of Triple Crown hopefuls won the final race (7 out of 10 years).  Between 1950 and 1979, only 3 out of 11 Triple Crown hopefuls won the Belmont.  Since 1980, however, the sport is 0 for 11.  That’s a lot of disappointment.  The good news for NBC has been that it can look forward to a very relevant (and highly rated) Belmont Stakes about once every three years (just like this year when the Belmont rating beats the ever-reliable Kentucky Derby rating).  But interest in the entire series might eventually be at risk if there is a widespread perception that winning it all is not possible.

NBA: Playoffs

Finals
10.2 rating ABC 8:00 pm Sunday Miami Heat at San Antonio Spurs Game 2 (even with 10.2 last year for SA-MIA)

NHL: Playoffs

Stanley Cup Final
4.6 rating NBC 7:15 pm Saturday New York Rangers at Los Angeles Kings Game 2 2OT (+109% from 2.2 last year for LA-NJ OT)

MLB

0.24 rating FS1 4:00 pm Saturday Cleveland Indians at Texas Rangers
1.7 rating FOX 7:00 pm Saturday Boston-Detroit or Oakland-Baltimore or NY Yankees-Kansas City (-23% from 2.2 last year for 5-game regional)

PGA Golf: Fed Ex St. Jude Classic

1.3 rating CBS 3:00 pm Saturday 3rd Round (-7% from 1.4 last year)
1.9 rating CBS 3:00 pm Sunday Final Round (-10% from 2.1 last year)

Auto Racing

NASCAR Sprint Cup
2.8 rating TNT 1:00 pm Sunday Pocono 500 (-3% from 2.9 last year)

Tennis

French Open
1.5 rating NBC 9:00 am Saturday Women’s Final Sharapova-Halep (-17% from 1.8 from last year for Serena Williams-Sharapova)
2.1 rating NBC 9:00 am Sunday Men’s Final Nadal-Djokovic (+24% from 1.7 from last year for Nadal-Ferrer)

Soccer

International Friendly
ESPN 5:30 pm Saturday US vs Nigeria — rating not available

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