Your Time On The Top Is Up 'High School Musical', Patriots-Ravens Most Watched Cable Program Ever

Wednesday, December 05, 2007


I really didn't think anything could top High School Musical 2 other than High School Musical 3, but I was wrong. It took the mighty Patriots, but this past Monday Night's contest beat out the Disney TV Movie by 300,000 people according to SBD via SbB....

ESPN drew 17.5 million viewers for Monday night's Patriots-Ravens game, surpassing Disney Channel's telecast of "High School Musical 2" in August, which drew 17.2 million viewers, as cable's biggest-ever audience. The game drew a 13.0 cable Nielsen rating, up 51.2% from an 8.6 for the comparable Panthers-Eagles game last year. Pats-Ravens also set a record by averaging 12.529 million homes. The most-viewed "MNF" game last year was Giants-Cowboys on October 23, which averaged 11.807 million homes.
Say what you will about the broadcast team, the guests, and all of the nonsense that goes into each broadcast, but people are watching the program in record numbers. This obviously will only encourage them to keep the current team and cheesy interviews, but hey I can always use content.

Via ESPN: [MNF's] 14 NFL games account for 11 of the top 12 most-watched shows on basic cable in 2007 among households: the first-, second-, third-, fourth-, sixth-, seventh-, eighth-, ninth-, 10th-, 11th-, 12th-, 15th-, 16th-, and 17th-most watched.

Patriots-Ravens Game Largest Cable TV Audience In History (Sports by Brooks)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 4:55 PM

9 Comments:

Tirico is brutal;dry,middle of the road,no intensity.Kornholer,of course,the worst,filling the clown seat once held by Dennis Miller.Would love to see him come on the show with an obviously bad rug , a la Jon Lovitz in that Seinfeld episode.He could walk onto the set,say to Kolber"How's your life" She would say"Just got a little better...by the way,do you need a rug for your ballbag,too?"

Anonymous said...
Dec 5, 2007, 7:09:00 PM  

High School Friggin' Musical. Someone please explain to me how that could ever have become popular. 'Tis things like that make me fear for the future.

AA - I can't find video of it yet, but there was a hilarious SC feature yesterday where they had someone on a phone interview in SportsCenter, and Neil Everett thought whoever it was was done talking. The camera zooms in on Everett...and the person on the phone talks right over poor Neil. Classic SC theater for you. If I can dig it up, I'll link it. The first thing I thought after I stopped cracking up with "hey, an awful announcing video..."

Bodjo said...
Dec 5, 2007, 9:24:00 PM  

I so root against ESPN! They are just a necessary evil. I wish another company made a legit sports channel. Anyway this says nothing about ESPN, just that it was a good game. I have read more about ratings this year than any other and people try to equate it to the channel. ESPN has, overall, the most unlikable talent in all of sports. However people just wanna watch a particular game even if it happens to air on ESPN or CBS this year. I guess it is just something to blog about.

Anonymous said...
Dec 5, 2007, 9:32:00 PM  

I wonder what the viewership numbers were by quarter.

Anonymous said...
Dec 5, 2007, 9:35:00 PM  

Good game and reruns on CBS means high ratings despite ESPN

Anonymous said...
Dec 5, 2007, 9:40:00 PM  

Didn't the NFL Network a few days ago release the numbers from the Green Bay-Dallas game, and it was the highest cable rating of all-time?

@nhz - That phone interview (I think) was from Dontrelle Willis while he was on vacation in Mexico, with his reaction to the trade to the Tigers.

Anonymous said...
Dec 5, 2007, 10:52:00 PM  

maybe the next MNF guest will be the entire cast of HS musical. the ratings would explode...meanwhile, sports fans might explode too.

The Big Picture said...
Dec 5, 2007, 11:56:00 PM  

rjbo - I think that was it too. I laughed pretty hard when Dontrelle wouldn't let Everett talk.

Bodjo said...
Dec 6, 2007, 2:14:00 AM  

You want further proof that someone out there doesn't like us?

The Michael Vick sentencing will take place the same night the Falcons play the Saints on ESPN. Oh boy! Another night of ignoring the action on the field so that they can interview a bunch of "Civil Rights Leaders." Or maybe ESPN learned something after the outcry the last time the Falcons were on the network. But somehow, I doubt it.

Anonymous said...
Dec 6, 2007, 9:49:00 AM  

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