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Saturday's Kentucky
Derby. Ho hum.
Expect ratings to be down with no Smarty Jones
By Toni Fitzgerald
Maybe sports fans are still recovering from March
Madness or perhaps a lingering NFL Draft hangover. But whatever the reason,
there’s been a noticeable lack of buzz surrounding this Saturday’s
Kentucky Derby on NBC.
It would seem the perfect time for horse racing to regain
popularity. Last year’s Derby was the most-watched in more than a
decade, and the fervor over Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown bid drew huge
audiences for the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
But this is a very different year and a very different race
with none of that excitement, and that suggests what would have been inconceivable
last summer: a decline in ratings for this race.
There are two problems. First, no horse has generated the kind of pre-Derby excitement
that then-undefeated Smarty did going into the race. And second, there
have just been too many major sports stories overshadowing a minor sport
like horseracing.
Last year even non-racing fans knew about Smarty. Though he
wasn’t favored going into the race, his undefeated record excited the
public, and that drew viewers.
The 2004 Derby averaged a 9.3 household rating, tied for the
best since 1991, and averaged 14.6 million total viewers, 1.1 million more
than the next-most-watched race in that span, 2001’s Monarchos victory.
This year, with no Smarty, the early
favorite in the race is Bellamy Road, which is owned by George
Steinbrenner. The horse has little glam attached to him, and the Yankees owner
is hardly a big fan draw, being despised in many sports circles. All of New England may tune out of
the Derby out of spite.
Certainly no horse has the populist feel of Smarty, who defied the odds to
win the race after being sneered at by racing elitists who thought his pre-Derby slate was weak.
This year trainer Todd Pletcher has the underdog story,
having gone 0-for-9 in the Derby the past four years. But the
racing-ignorant public doesn’t generally care about trainers. They want
to hear about the horse or the owner.
The second problem can be attributed in part to Steinbrenner
as well. There have been so many big sports stories in the past month that
the last thing on people’s minds is horse racing.
There have been any
number of baseball stories, from steroids to the Yankees’ poor start,
but there's also been Tiger Woods’ Masters win, North Carolina’s NCAA
championship, the NFL Draft, and Phil Jackson’s coaching status to push horse racing to the back pages.
One more minus for the Derby: NBC’s primetime ratings are down,
meaning less of a promotional platform.
The past four years, since the Derby moved from ABC to NBC,
it has averaged an 8.6 household rating. This year it may dip below a 7.6
for the first time since NBC revived the race, which had averaged a 6.1
its last three years on ABC.
In other sports ratings, NBA playoff ratings are
holding steady, even though regular-season
ratings were down compared with last year. TNT has averaged a 1.9 household rating and ESPN a 2.1
thus far, both even with last year.
For the week ended April 17, the most recent available, the
highest-rated sports telecast on cable was ESPN’s “Sunday Night
Baseball” between the Braves and Phillies, which averaged a 1.6. Second-place “Thursday Night Baseball” with the Red Sox and Yankees averaged
a 1.3.
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NETWORK
SPORTS
Ranked on Households
Week Ending April 24 |
|
# |
PROGRAMS |
Net |
Episode |
Households |
Persons 2+ |
|
US Rtg% |
Shr |
(000) |
(000) |
|
1 |
FOX NASCAR
NEXTEL CUP
(S)(S)-4/23 |
FOX |
SUBWAY
FRSH 500 |
5.1 |
10 |
5563 |
8758 |
|
2 |
SHELL HOUSTON
OPEN
SU(S)-4/24 |
CBS |
|
3.3 |
7 |
3594 |
4534 |
|
3 |
WWE
SMACKDOWN! |
UPN |
|
3.3 |
5 |
3667 |
5334 |
|
4 |
NBA
PLAYOFFS
ON ABC
SUN 1 |
ABC |
NJ AT
MIAMI |
3.1 |
7 |
3354 |
4260 |
|
5 |
NBA
PLAYOFFS
ON ABC-SAT
1(S)-4/23 |
ABC |
PHILA AT
DETROIT |
2.1 |
5 |
2298 |
2997 |
|
6 |
SHELL HOUSTON
OPEN -
SA(S)-4/23 |
CBS |
|
2.1 |
5 |
2248 |
2792 |
|
7 |
NBC POKER
SERIES 4/23(S) |
NBC |
POKER
SUPERSTAR
ENCORE |
1.6 |
4 |
1739 |
2131 |
|
8 |
CBS AUTO
RACING:FORM 1 |
CBS |
GRAN PRIX OF
SAN MARINO |
1.2 |
3 |
1280 |
1508 |
|
9 |
LIBERTY LEGEND
GOLF-SUN
(S)-4/24 |
ABC |
|
1.1 |
3 |
1250 |
1509 |
|
10 |
LIBERTY LEGEND
GOLF
SAT(S)-4/23 |
ABC |
|
1.0 |
3 |
1120 |
1477 |
|
11 |
CBS SPORTS
SPECT-SA |
CBS |
NAT'L CHEER
&
DANCE CHAMP |
1.0 |
3 |
1042 |
1424 |
|
12 |
NBC SPORTS
SPEC 4/24-B(S) |
NBC |
WORLD ADV
SPORTS |
1.0 |
2 |
1118 |
1385 |
|
13 |
NBC SPORTS
SPECIAL
4/24-A(S) |
NBC |
SURFING |
0.8 |
2 |
862 |
1094 |
|
14 |
NBC ARENA
FTBALL |
NBC |
PHIL AT NY/
TPA BAY AT
NASH |
0.7 |
2 |
758 |
908 |
|
15 |
REAL PRO
WRESTLING |
PAX |
|
0.2 |
0 |
178 |
199 |
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Source: Nielsen Media Research |
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May 2, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
- Toni
Fitzgerald is a staff writer for Media Life.
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