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IN THE THEATER: Robin Roberts and Stuart Scott present Kevin Everett with the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance.

The Nokia Theater made its bow as the new home of the ESPYs Wednesday night in Los Angeles. While Justin Timberlake did an admirable job as the show’s host, the ESPYs tend to be remembered for special moments rather than as a show.

This year was in keeping with that tradition, with moments both funny and touching for sports fans.

STEPPING IN: Actor Will Ferrell accepts an award on behalf of Tiger Woods.

Tops on the list were Will Farrell accepting an award as Tiger Woods and Brett Favre declaring that his ESPY “makes me want to play again,” as well as a terrific song-and-dance “rock opera” on the year in sports performed by Timberlake.

On the serious side, Samuel L. Jackson and Steve Nash presented the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to 1968 Olympic medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos. The athletes raised their black-gloved fists on the medal podium during the American anthem to represent the struggle for racial equality in the U.S. and the universal struggle for basic human rights, only to be kicked off the team for their actions.

Rarely is a new sport able to take off without difficulty, but that’s exactly what the Red Bull Air Race World Series has accomplished. With all new aircraft, uniforms and locations, season two of the air competition on Fox Sports debuted this week and already figures to transform the dimensions of motorsport racing.

The series was watched by more than 4.5 million people last year in season one on the outlet, which saw the world’s top pilots race at speeds up to 250 mph. Red Bull conceived of the sport in 2001.

This season, 12 pilots will battle it out on 10 courses around the world, including San Diego, Budapest, Abu Dhabi, Stockholm, London and Perth.

Check out the video preview of the new season here, complete with some of the innovative technology being used to capture the competition.

In a nutshell, the race featured pilots completing obstacle courses, where they must pass though air gates in the fastest possible time as well as in the correct position. The pilot who accumulates the most points at the end of the season is declared champion. Calling the action is Mike Buchan, Mike Goldberg and Alan Preston.

Even if he does, seemingly, always pick the No. 1 seeds to advance to the Final Four, kudos to Clark Kellogg for stepping into the shoes of Billy Packer as CBS’ lead basketball analyst.

Mr. Kellogg always brought a great presence and solid analysis to CBS’ college basketball coverage and should be a great complement to Jim Nantz, a feeling clearly shared by the network suits. Mr. Kellogg was a game analyst for the network's NCAA Tournament coverage in 1993 and 1994 and was studio co-host for first- and second-round coverage from 1994 to 1997. He has co-hosted “The Road to the Final Four” since 1997. Mr. Kellogg also served as an analyst for ESPN's regular-season basketball coverage.

“With his unquestioned popularity and performance over the years, Clark Kellogg earned all rights to this top spot,” said Sean McManus, president, CBS News & Sports. “Like Billy Packer, Al McGuire or any of the most highly regarded broadcasters, Clark is an original voice with his own style and perspective. We have been proud to have him lead our studio presence for many years and look forward to his fresh impact on CBS Sports’ coverage of college basketball for years to come.”

In case you hadn’t heard the buzz, reports circulated this weekend that CBS Sports lead game analyst Billy Packer was out after 27 seasons. Mr. Packer had drawn some heat in recent seasons for statements that included trashing the selection of George Mason as an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament (the team went on to make the Final Four) and calling a Kansas/North Carolina game “over” before the Tar Heels came back, although Kansas ended up winning the game. However, he was top-notch at breaking down analysis in-game.

“For over three decades Billy Packer has been the voice of the NCAA Final Four and, in many ways, of college basketball,” said Mr. Kellogg. “His excellence as an analyst is Hall of Fame-worthy. His knowledge of the game and its history is unparalleled. That, along with his passion and keen insights, enabled him to do his work as an analyst better and longer than anyone in the game’s history. His legacy is one of enduring excellence and keeping the focus on the game. That is the foundation I aspire to build on.”

The Charlotte Observer had a good interview with Mr. Packer, which you can read here.

In it, Mr. Packer noted that he didn’t see himself coming back as a broadcaster, noting, “In the history of nationally televised basketball, I’ve done probably 90% of the great games, so I don’t want to be going to do games of a different status, so I have no interest in that.”

Good luck to both men as they begin their new journeys.

As we head into MLB’s mid-summer classic, as well as the British Open and Espys next week, national sports ratings continue to heat up

Baseball on Fox jumped to its best score of the season at a 3.0/8 for the always entertaining Red Sox/Yankees and Cubs/Cardinals games. That score marks the networks’ best national rating for the sport since June 2 of 1997.

NBC, meanwhile, earned a 3.5/10 on Sunday for the terrific Wimbledon final, possible one the best matches ever played. That score was good enough for a 30% improvement over last year’s final, which earned a 2.7/8 in the five set epic. Late in the fifth and final set, ratings only grew and peaked at a 4.7/11.

First an amazing match with Tiger Woods’ dramatic come-from-behind playoff victory at the U.S. Open, now an epic Gentlemen's Singles final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon—NBC is hitting ratings highs.

NBC Sports' “Breakfast at Wimbledon” coverage of the finals match between the world’s top two male tennis players earned the network its best overnight rating for a Gentlemen's Final in eight years, scoring a 4.6 rating and a 12 share and besting last year’s finals by 44%, according to Nielsen Media research.

“This has got to be the greatest match we've ever seen—EVER,” commentator John McEnroe said during the match.

Mr. Nadal was the victor in the grueling, nearly five-hour match, dethroning Mr. Federer, the five-time defending Wimbledon, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 to score his first Wimbledon victory.

Top metered markets for Sunday's coverage of the Gentlemen’s Final:

1. St. Louis, 8.2/19
2. West Palm Beach, Fla., 7.5/17
3. Washington, D.C., 6.4/17
4. Nashville, Tenn., 6.3/14
4. Fort Myers, Fla., 6.3/15
6. Las Vegas, 6.1/14
7. Jacksonville, Fla., 6.0/13
7. Richmond, Va., 6.0/12
9. New York, 5.7/15
9. Milwaukee, 5.7/12

NBC also scored with its Ladies’ Singles final between the Williams sisters, earning the best rating for a Ladies Final since 2005 with a 3.4 overnight rating and a 10 share. Venus Williams defeated sister Serena in a match that improved ratings from last year’s final by 21%.

With the best record in Major League Baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays may be worrying television executives hoping for a Chicago Cubs-Boston Red Sox World Series. But the red-hot baseball team is drumming up record numbers in its home market.

Tuesday night’s winning game against the Red Sox drew the highest rating ever for a Rays game on television with a 9.1; that made it the top-rated television program in the Tampa area. In fact, last night’s game demolished FSN Florida’s previous record TV HH rating for a Rays game on the regional cable network, which was a 4.5 on June 19 vs. the Chicago Cubs.

That score is up 203% over the season-to-date 3.0 rating, which itself is up 36% over 2007 numbers.

With major-market teams from Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia all in serious contention to make the playoffs, Tampa Bay could well play spoiler to those big-market draws. Just don’t tell that to fans in Tampa.

Michael Strahan, the future Hall of Fame New York Giant football great who retired this week, already has his work cut out for him.

Sources say the charismatic athlete is already meeting with multiple networks seeking to land the star to a talent deal for their outlets. Among the leading contenders are said to be Fox Sports as well as the NFL Network. Sources close to Mr. Strahan note that his new digs on the Southern California beach make the West Coast-based companies more attractive to the athlete. Among East Coast suitors, CBS is reportedly the most likely match, although NBC is in the mix.

Executives at both Fox Sports and the NFL Network have confirmed that they are extremely interested in Mr. Strahan and he will be approached for a position on their networks.

Relationships and money will play a bigger part than locality in his decision, which could give Fox the edge in the end.

Mr. Strahan already has a strong background with both Fox and the NFL Network. On Fox, he is a regular guest on “Best Damned Sports Show Period” as well as Fox’s NFL crew. If he was hired by the company, he would likely have large roles in both of those broadcasts and possibly others.

The NFL Network has also tapped Mr. Strahan’s services, pitting him in segments with Warren Sapp and other personalities on the channel.

“We’ve worked with Michael in so many different ways since we launched in 2003,” said Eric Weinberger, executive producer of NFL Network. “Michael contributed weekly to the NFL Network at the start and we’d love to continue our working relationship and friendship with him for years to come. We congratulate him on a great football career.”

Mr. Weinberger went on to note that “Michael’s outgoing personality, humor, honesty and insightful comments made him one of the most entertaining personalities in the league. He has the on-screen presence that keeps people watching to see what he will say next.”

Of course, money talks in the end, and a fat East Coast paycheck from NBC, ESPN or CBS would also butter the proverbial bread.

Studio sources said they hope to have a decision within the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, here’s a rundown on national sports ratings for the week.
The first three games of the 2008 NBA Finals have averaged an 8.8 rating and 16 share on ABC, marking a strong 44% spike over last year's Spurs-Cavaliers Finals (6.1/11). Demographic jumps have been even stronger including a giant 63% gain among men 25-54.

Big Brown’s failure to win the Triple Crown still placed ABC’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes far higher in the ratings than in 2007, earning a 7.2/17 on Saturday. That was a 148% rise from last year’s 2.9/8. The actual running of the race earned ABC a 12.0/28 during the quarter hour. Of course, that’s still lower than what NBC pulled the last time a horse made a play for the Triple Crown, when NBC delivered a 16.1/35 in 2004.

Finally, TNT’s launch of its season of NASCAR did well for the network, earning a 3.9/9 for the Pocono 500, 30% better than last year’s 3.0/7.

After a trip Down Under to visit the in-laws in Australia and overdosing on Australian Football (great sport), we’re back with a rundown on the goings-on in sports ratings.

First up—and I’ve covered this throughout the season—the NHL continued its ratings rush leading up to Wednesday’s Stanley Cup finale, as Game 6 between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins earned a series-high 4.5/8 metered market average.

“Two great teams, at the top of their game, generated significant interest,” said NBC Sports President Ken Schanzer. “Hopefully this provides a launching point for future growth. We can't wait for our season to begin, somewhere outdoors, next season.”

Through Game 5, the NHL Stanley Cup Finals have averaged a 3.0/6 (5.0 million viewers) nationally, up 88% over last year's abysmal 1.6/3. The enormous home-market audiences for both Detroit and Pittsburgh have been key elements to the ratings gain for the NHL Finals. Pittsburgh led all markets with a 37.4/51, followed by Detroit with a 30.6/45.

Meanwhile, Fox’s NASCAR season wrapped up last weekend in Dover, Del., with a 4.5/11 and 7.1 million viewers. Fox ended the season up in the sport, which critics had pronounced to be spiraling downward, averaging a 5.7/12 (9.5 million viewers) for all races, up 2% from last year’s 5.6/13 (9.3 million) despite sliding slightly in key male demos.

Finally this week, CBS debuted mixed martial arts on Saturday night, averaging a 3.0/6 (4.9 million viewers) for the “Elite X Saturday Night Fights.” The series improved the network’s time period greatly among younger demos (up 300% among men 18-34 and up 150% among men 18-49), even beating the Stanley Cup Finals’ Game 4 on NBC. That said, the sport did little to help the channel in households and total viewers, as CBS scored a 2.8/5, down 22% from the May average of a 3.6/7 and was also off 26% from the same night in 2007, an airing of “Ocean’s Twelve.”

We’ll dissect NBA Finals ratings as the week goes on.

The shortened off-season staple of the NFL, the NFL draft, produced mixed results for the two companies broadcasting the event, ESPN and NFL Network.

A truncated opening day, due to a shorter amount of time between picks, saw TV critics praising the move, which prevented the affair from becoming a marathon. Fans in attendance clearly loved the brisk pace of the program.

From a broadcast standpoint, however, the first round of the draft produced a small thump from a business point of view. With the draft moved from noon to 3 p.m. to take advantage of higher audiences later in the day, and teams given only 10 minutes to make their first-round pick in the interest of speeding up the proceedings, the reduced commercial inventory was a drawback to the revised draft.

From a ratings perspective on Saturday, ESPN’s draft rating was down 6% compared with 2007, scoring a 3.4 rating/8 share vs. a 3.6/10. In the demos, the outlet saw losses among men 18-49 and men 25-54, but it was up sharply among men 18-34. Ratings for the NFL Network were flat at a 0.3/1, although the league-owned channel showed growth among men 25-54.

On Sunday, where the league moved round three of the selection process and subsequently made the day more interesting, ESPN was up 7% from 2007, with growth in all three key demographics. NFL Network held even again at a 0.2 and rated higher among men 18-49 and men 25-54.

Great matchups featuring tight scores, intense rivalries and high-profile teams have boosted ratings for the cable outlets featuring NBA and NHL playoffs.

The NBA in particular is off to a hot start on both its broadcast and cable partners, according to final Nielsen results. ABC's two games pulled a nice 27% bump year-to-year with a 3.3 rating/8 share compared to last year’s 2.6/7. Demos also are rising sharply, with men 18-34 growing 36% and men 18-49 up 35%.

On ESPN, the outlet’s first three playoff matchups earned a 2.0/5, a 43% jump over 2007; men 18-34 were up by more than a rating point for a 79% rise to a 2.5.

TNT also is benefiting from the revived interest in National Basketball Association games, with a ratings drive that features a 16% ratings increase (2.1 U.S. rating) over the prior year. Through nine games, the network also experienced a swell in households, delivering an 18% increase, as well as significant key demo growth in men 18-34 (31%) and men 18-49 (30%).

“Audiences are rediscovering the game again,” said Doug White, ESPN senior director of programming. “The quality of play on the floor is the highest I’ve seen in my lifetime in terms of overall perspective, because there are so many great players who are all playing the game at an extremely high level. Fans and viewers appreciate that.”

In fact, every single game that aired on ESPN on Saturday showed ratings spikes.

NBA PLAYOFFS: OPENING GAMES ON ESPN: COVERAGE RATINGS

DATE DAY TIME GAME RATING CHANGE VS. 2007
4/19 Sat. 12:30 p.m. Wizards-Cavaliers 2.1 50.0%
4/19 Sat. 7 p.m. Mavericks-Hornets 2.4 60.0%
4/19 Sat. 9:30 p.m. Jazz-Rockets 2.5 38.9%

Mr. White said ESPN Web traffic also is benefiting from the renaissance, with ESPN.com’s NBA page scoring 10 million hits on the Friday before the games.

“A lot of people don’t want to be left out of the conversation as these games are providing water-cooler talk around the country,” said Mr. White. “We’ve seen this trend all season, and it’s great to see it only get better during the playoffs.”

The NHL, meanwhile, helped boost cable network Versus to record ratings for the sport, with Game 7 of the Flyers-Capitals series on April 22 earning a 0.7 HH rating and 631,040 total viewers. It was the highest-rated NHL Quarterfinals telecast ever on the network, and the most-watched NHL Quarterfinals telecast ever on the network among homes, men 18-49, men 25-54 and total viewers.

Overall, the network saw significant increases in ratings, total viewership and viewership across all key male demos compared with year-ago figures from the first post-season round.