A lot of sports-related news today:
– CBS and Fox have extended their deals with the NFL until 2014 with CBS getting rights to carry Super Bowl XLVII (47) in 2013 while Fox has Super Bowl XLVIII (48) in 2014.
– The NFL has also agreed to bury the hatchet with Comcast over the NFL Network. The two struck an agreement today to end years of bickering over carriage on the nation’s largest MSO. The deal means the NFL Network will move from a sports package-tier to a digital classic one, enabling the net to reach more homes.
– And Comcast wasn’t done deal-making: The MSO also made a deal with ESPN to carry web channel ESPN 360. With the addition of Comcast, ESPN 360 is now available in 41 million homes. ESPN 360 carries sportiong events from college basketball to soccer.
– The NBA scored record ratings for Game 7 of the Orlando magic-Boston Celtics semi-final. TNT notched a 5.2 HH rating and drew 8.4 million viewers and was the most-watched Game 7 semifinal ever in households and total viewers. The Magic won, eliminating the defending-champion Celtics (hey Boston, you can’t win everything.)
– Sunday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings (where the Wings won 5-2) drew a 7.7 household rating and 19 household share locally, according to Nielsen. However, in Detroit (and with no CBC simulcast), the game drew a household rating and share of 16.9/38. Nationally, the game did a 2.0 household rating.
Man, Detroit beats Chicago – even in the ratings.