Ratings Roundup: CSN Chicago, NESN Set New Ratings Benchmarks

Comcast SportsNet Chicago delivered its highest Bulls game rating ever on March 7, a 7.21 household rating for the team’s home tilt with the New Orleans Hornets. The Bulls’ ninth straight win at home attracted approximately 252,538 households for the entire length of the game, making CSN Chicago the highest-rated television network in the Chicago market. The 7.21 mark shatters the network’s previous all-time high set during game 6 of the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs (April 30, 2009), a triple-overtime Bulls victory over the Boston Celtics (6.35 household rating). The previous all-time regular-season high occurred earlier this season on Dec. 21 vs. Philadelphia (5.70). CSN Chicago’s Bulls coverage is averaging a 4.22 household rating, up 66% compared with last season through 33 telecasts…

…NESN began the month of March with a boom, posting season-high ratings for its Boston Bruins and a huge ratings boost for its Red Sox spring-training coverage. NESN recorded its two highest-rated Bruins broadcasts of the season with the team’s 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lighting on March 3 (4.6 in the Boston market) and 3-2 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 5. NESN’s season average was 3.0 going into Tuesday night’s faceoff with the Montreal Canadiens.

In addition, NESN’s first three Red Sox spring-training games of the season averaged a 2.4 household rating, up 85% over the first three spring-training games televised by NESN in 2010, and the best three-game spring-training game average since spring 2007. NESN is scheduled to broadcast 13 spring-training games in March…

…NASCAR continues to see ratings gains. Last Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 from Las Vegas earned a 5.3 overnight rating on Fox, up 29% from last year (4.1), when it aired up against the Vancouver Olympics. However, the 5.3 is the second lowest for NASCAR’s Las Vegas race since at least 2001. All three NASCAR Sprint Cup telecasts on Fox this season have had increases in overnight ratings compared with last year. The Feb. 20 Daytona 500 drew an 8.2 in the overnight ratings, up 17% (2010: 7.0), and the Feb. 27 Subway Fresh Fit 500 drew a 5.3, up 6% (2010: 5.0)…

…ESPN’s telecast of the Miami Heat’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on March 4 earned a 1.8 U.S. rating and 2.914 million viewers, up an impressive 80% in rating and 104% in viewership from the comparable date last year (New Orleans-San Antonio: 1.0, 1.427 million).