Question of the day.

The ratings game.

• Final round coverage of the U.S. Open drew a 3.5/11 final rating and 4.8 million viewers on NBC Monday, June 22, down 48% in ratings and viewers from a 6.7 and 9.2 million for Monday coverage last year, which featured a playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate. Excluding rained-out Thursday coverage (which drew a 0.8 and 1.1 million viewers), NBC averaged a 3.2 rating and 4.5 million viewers for 6 U.S. Open telecasts, down 29% and 31%, respectively, from a 4.5 and 6.5 million for 5 telecasts last year.
• Univision drew a 1.5/4 final rating and 3 million viewers for its coverage of the United States/Brazil Confederations Cup final on Sunday, June 28. The Univision telecast alone topped several other events that weekend -- including two Wimbledon telecasts on NBC, the third round of the Travelers Championship on CBS, and a NASCAR Nationwide Series race on ABC. Overall, Univision and ESPN combined to draw 4.3 million households (equaling a 3.7 rating) and 6.9 million viewers for the U.S./Brazil match.
• Some local numbers for Wimbledon: the Federer/Roddick men's final drew an impressive 8.1/13 in West Palm Beach on Sunday, peaking at a 13.2/28. Meanwhile, the Serena Williams/Venus Williams women's final drew a 6.1/14 the previous day. In Milwaukee, the Federer/Roddick match drew a 4.5 locally, while the all-Williams final drew a 2.9.

A Coke and a frown.

NASCAR followed up its first ratings increase of the season with a big drop for the Coke Zero 400.

Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 drew a 3.1 U.S. rating and 5.3 million viewers on TNT, down 18% in ratings and 17% in viewers from a 3.8 and 6.4 million for the same race last year. The 3.1 rating is the lowest for a regularly scheduled NASCAR race since last August.

This marks the lowest rated Coke Zero 400 since at least '98, and the least viewed since at least '01.

Keep in mind that Saturday's race took place on a holiday (the Fourth of July).

Heading into its last race of the season, TNT is averaging a 3.3 U.S. rating and 5.4 million viewers for NASCAR coverage, down 8% in ratings and 7% in viewers from a 3.6 and 5.8 million through five races last year.

Excluding the rained-out Coca Cola 600 in May, 17 NASCAR races have averaged a 4.6 rating on FOX and TNT during the '09 season, down 12% from a 5.2 through the comparable 17 races last year.

Ratings for the Coke Zero 400 since '98.
Ratings and shares presented for races on broadcast; U.S. rating and cable rating (in parentheses) presented for races on cable.

Year	Date	Winner	Net	Rating	Viewers
2009	Sat., 7/4/09	Stewart	TNT	3.1 (N/A)	5.3 mil
2008	Sat., 7/5/08	Ky. Busch	TNT	3.8 (4.5)	6.4 mil
2007	Sat., 7/7/07	McMurray	TNT	3.8 (4.4)	6.2 mil
2006	Sat., 7/1/06	Stewart	FOX	5.1/11	8.2 mil
2005	Sat., 7/2/05	Stewart	NBC	5.5/13	8.3 mil
2004	Sat., 7/3/04	Gordon	FOX	5.2/12	8.7 mil
2003	Sat., 7/5/03	Biffle	NBC	6.0/13	9.7 mil
2002	Sat., 7/6/02	Waltrip	FOX	5.2/12	8.6 mil
2001	Sat., 7/7/01	Earnhardt, Jr.	NBC	6.1/13	10.2 mil
2000	Sat., 7/1/00	Burton	CBS	5.2/12	--
1999	Sat., 7/3/99	Jarrett	CBS	5.4/13	--
1998	Sat., 10/17/98	Gordon	TNN	3.5 (4.7)	--

Idle notes.

• The United States Olympic Committee has announced the launch of a new channel devoted to Olympic sports. The USON -- U.S. Olympic Network -- will launch in 2010 and feature "live coverage of championship competitions," including coverage of the Olympic Trials after 2012. As a joint venture between the USOC and Comcast, the USON will launch on Comcast's Digital Classic tier, which reaches over 10 million households.
• A U.K. version of ESPN is set to launch on August 3. The channel will be the home of ESPN's newly acquired English Premier League coverage, and will also televise U.S. sporting events previously carried by ESPN America. The new ESPN channel will use "Sky Sports’ in-house production team to produce its Premier League matches," and will also devote original studio programming to the sport.
• Nearly three months after its short-lived debut, ESPN's redesigned BottomLine has returned. The new BottomLine debuted on April 6 along with new graphics for SportsCenter, but did not even last a full day due to technical difficulties. The BottomLine made its second debut quietly on Wednesday afternoon.
  

Hail to the chiefs.

Every single living U.S. President will have a presence during the upcoming 2009 MLB All-Star Game.

U.S. President Barack Obama and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be part of a video address that will air during a pregame ceremony before the MLB All-Star Game. The 7-minute video will mark "the first time all of the living U.S. Presidents will participate in a ceremony at a sporting event."

After the video, President Obama will throw out the first pitch.

The presidential presence may not be limited to the pregame. According to Sports Illustrated writer Richard Deitsch, FOX Sports president Ed Goren would "love to get President Obama in [the] booth" alongside Joe Buck and Tim McCarver -- "[if the] Secret Service allows it."

Weekend ratings.

Overnight ratings for sporting events on broadcast.
Source: Sports Business Daily.

Tennis

Sport	Game/Event	Date	Time	Net	Rating
Tennis	Wimbledon men's final, Federer/Roddick	Sun., 7/5/09	9:00 AM	NBC	4.2/11
Tennis	Wimbledon men's final, S. Williams/V. Williams	Sat., 7/4/09	9:00 AM	NBC	2.7/8

• The five-set Federer/Roddick final at Wimbledon drew a 4.2 overnight rating on NBC Sunday, down 8% from a 4.6 for last year's Nadal/Federer tilt, but still the second-highest overnight for the men's final at Wimbledon since '00.
• Saturday's all-Williams women's final at Wimbledon drew a 2.7 overnight on NBC, down 21% from a 3.4 for the same matchup last year, and the lowest overnight rating ever for an all-Williams Grand Slam final on broadcast.

Golf

Sport	Game/Event	Date	Time	Net	Rating
PGA	AT&T National, Final Round	Sun., 7/5/09	3:00 PM	CBS	4.6/11
PGA	AT&T National, Third Round	Sat., 7/4/09	3:00 PM	CBS	2.6/7
Golf	U.S. Open Challenge (taped)	Sat., 7/4/09	2:00 PM	NBC	1.3/3

• Ratings soared for the Tiger Woods-fueled AT&T National on CBS. The 4.6 overnight for final round coverage on Sunday was up 207% from a 1.5 last year, and marks the highest overnight rating in the three-year history of the event. Meanwhile, while the 2.6 for third round coverage on Saturday was up 100% from last year's 1.3. Overall, CBS averaged a 3.6 overnight for its two-day coverage of the AT&T National, up 157% from last year.
• Pushed back from its original date, the U.S. Open Challenge drew a 1.3 overnight on NBC Saturday, down 46% from a 2.4 last year, when the event aired directly before the final round of the U.S. Open.
  

Auto racing

Sport	Game/Event	Date	Time	Net	Rating
IRL	Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen	Sun., 7/5/09	1:00 PM	ABC	0.9/-
Moto	AMA Motocross (taped)	Sat., 7/4/09	3:30 PM	NBC	0.6/1

• The 0.9 overnight for the IRL Camping World Grand Prix and the Glen marks a 10% decline from last year's 1.0.

Volleyball

Sport	Game/Event	Date	Time	Net	Rating
AVP	Lumber Liquidators Coney Island Open, Men's Final	Sun., 7/5/09	4:30 PM	NBC	0.7/2
AVP	Lumber Liquidators Coney Island Open, Women's Final	Sat., 7/4/09	4:30 PM	NBC	0.6/1

• Coverage of the Coney Island Open was down 25% on Saturday and 63% on Sunday, compared to the Boulder Open on the comparable weekend last year.

Other

Sport	Game/Event	Date	Time	Net	Rating
MLB	Dodgers/Padres or other regional action	Sat., 7/4/09	4:00 PM	FOX	1.7/-
Other	Hy-Vee Triathlon (taped)	Sun., 7/5/09	3:00 PM	NBC	1.0/2
NCAA	NCAA Spring Highlight Show (taped)	Sat., 7/4/09	2:00 PM	CBS	0.4/1

• The 1.7 overnight for Saturday's regional MLB coverage on FOX marks a 50% fall from a 3.4 for coverage on the comparable date in '08.

Big names.

• Marc Spears: The Celtics beat writer is leaving the Boston Globe for Yahoo! Sports. Spears, who had been with the Globe since '07, told The Big Lead, "I’d like to thank the Boston Globe for everything they’ve done for me. It’s a fantastic paper. ... I’m looking forward to going to a great website."
• Stephen A. Smith: The former ESPN personality will appear on MSNBC Tuesday morning to discuss the life of Michael Jackson. Smith also appeared on MSNBC on Monday morning, in a segment on "the Black Community's thoughts" on U.S. President Barack Obama.
• Bernie Ecclestone: The Formula 1 CEO recently made news for comments about Adolf Hitler. In an interview with the the London Times, discussion of "strong leaders" led to Ecclestone noting that Hitler "could command a lot of people, [and was] able to get things done." On Monday, Ecclestone defended his comments to the Associated Press, and said that "upsetting people is the last thing I wanted to do, obviously."

The ratings game.

• Once again, ratings dropped for the IRL on ABC. The Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen, ABC's second-to-last IRL telecast of the year, drew a 0.9 overnight rating on Sunday afternoon -- down 10% from a 1.0 last year. All four of ABC's IRL telecasts have had at least a 10% decline in overnight ratings.
• Without a direct lead-in from the Wimbledon men's final, ratings plunged for the AVP Crocs Tour on NBC Sunday. Coverage of the men's final of the Coney Island Open drew a 0.7/2 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 63% from a 1.9/4 for the women's final of the Boulder Open on the comparable date last year.
• With Univ. of Oklahoma star Blake Griffin selected #1 overall and the Oklahoma City Thunder making their first draft picks ever, ratings for the NBA Draft rose dramatically in Oklahoma City. The '09 NBA Draft drew a 4.2 rating in the Oklahoma City market, up 121% from a 1.9 last year. Ratings peaked at a 7.2 when the Thunder made their first pick.

Ramirez fails to juice MLB on FOX ratings.

Like so many things in baseball over the past decade, the national curiosity surrounding Manny Ramirez' return from a 50-game suspension appears to have been purely artificial.

Regional MLB coverage, featuring live, national cutaways to Dodgers/Padres during Ramirez' first at-bat, drew a mere 1.7 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, down a whopping 50% from a 3.4 for coverage on the comparable date last year.

Keep in mind that Saturday was the Fourth of July. The last time FOX aired MLB coverage on the holiday (1998), the net drew a 4.2/12 overnight.

This will more than likely mark the 7th time in 8 weeks that MLB coverage on FOX has failed to draw even 2% of U.S. television households.

Williams sister sequel slides in the ratings.

The drawing power of the Williams sisters is not what it once was.

The Wimbledon women's final, featuring Serena Williams' straight-set victory over Venus Williams, drew a 2.7/8 overnight rating on NBC Saturday afternoon, down 21% from a 3.4/10 for the same matchup last year.

The 2.7 overnight is the lowest ever for an all-Williams Grand Slam final on broadcast, and the second-lowest for the women's final at Wimbledon since '95.

Since their first head-to-head meeting at Wimbledon drew a 4.6 overnight in '02, overnight ratings for each subsequent Venus/Serena matchup have declined -- to 4.0 in '03, 3.4 in '08 and 2.7 in '09.

Overnight ratings for Wimbledon women's final since '95.

Year	Date	Time	Matchup	Net	Rating
2009	Sat., 7/4/09	9:00 AM	S. Williams/V. Williams	NBC	2.7/8
2008	Sat., 7/5/09	9:00 AM	V. Williams/S. Williams	NBC	3.4/10
2007	Sat., 7/7/07	9:00 AM	V. Williams/Bartoli	NBC	2.8/8
2006*	Sat., 7/8/06	9:00 AM	Mauresmo/Henin	NBC	2.2/7
2005	Sat., 7/2/05	9:00 AM	V. Williams/Davenport	NBC	4.0/12
2004	Sat., 7/3/04	9:00 AM	Sharapova/S. Williams	NBC	3.9/11
2003	Sat., 7/5/03	9:00 AM	S. Williams/V. Williams	NBC	4.0/11
2002	Sat., 7/6/02	9:00 AM	S. Williams/V. Williams	NBC	4.6/14
2001	Sun., 7/8/01	9:00 AM	V. Williams/Henin	NBC	3.6/10
2000	Sat., 7/8/00	9:00 AM	V. Williams/Davenport	NBC	4.4/15
1999	Sat., 7/3/99	9:00 AM	Davenport/Graf	NBC	4.6/15
1998	Sat., 7/4/98	9:00 AM	Novotná/Tauziat	NBC	3.1/10
1997	Sat., 7/5/97	N/A	Hingis/Novotná	NBC	4.1/-
1996	Sat., 7/6/96	N/A	Graf/Sánchez Vicario	NBC	4.4/-
1995	Sat., 7/8/05	N/A	Graf/Sánchez Vicario	NBC	5.3/18