Ratings Roundup: Oregon-Cal Brings in Record Audience for Versus

As would be expected from a matchup featuring the No.1 team in the country, Versus coverage of Saturday’s Oregon-Cal game drew a very big cable audience – the biggest the network has ever seen. Oregon’s 15-13 victory logged a 1.1 rating and 1.9 million viewers, easily surpassing Versus previous audience record for a football game of 1.6 million viewers(Oregon-Oregon St., 2008). Even with the record high, Saturday’s game was outdrawn head-to-head by Mississippi State/Alabama on ESPN2 and South Carolina/Florida on ESPN.

Based on total who have watched at least six minutes of NFL game through the first nine weeks of the season, more people watch NFL games on CBS than any other network. Through nine weeks of the 2010 season, CBS games were seen by an estimated 134.9 million viewers, 7% higher than NBC’s 126.3 million viewers, 6% higher than FOX’s 127.3 million viewers and 45% higher than ESPN’s 92.8 million.

Comcast SportsNet Chicago delivered its highest Bulls regular season rating ever on Tuesday, a 5.51 household rating for its live coverage of the Bulls road game against the Houston Rockets.  CSN Chicago pulled in approximately 193,000 households for the entire game. The 5.51 rating shatters the previous record set on Jan. 29, 2010 at New Orleans (4.72).  The Bulls on CSN Chicago are averaging a 3.60 household rating, a year-to-date increase of 25% compared to last season through five telecasts.