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 8th time in 10 weeks that MLB coverage on FOX has failed to draw even 2% of U.S. television households.

Updated 7/18/09 to correct MLB data.

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

Tiger trumps Federer -- again.

Roger Federer's record-setting 15th major victory drew solid numbers on NBC, but it could not top the audience for Tiger Woods' victory at a far less prestigious tournament later in the day.

Tiger Woods' victory in the final round of the AT&T National drew a 4.6/11 overnight rating on CBS Sunday, up a whopping 207% from a 1.5/3 last year, up 59% from a 2.9/7 in '07, and easily the highest overnight ever for the three-year-old tournament.

The 4.6/11 for Woods' victory topped the 4.2/12 overnight for Roger Federer's victory in the men's final at Wimbledon earlier in the day.

This marks the second time this year that a Woods victory in a non-major PGA event drew a higher rating than a Federer victory at a tennis major. In June, Woods' win at The Memorial drew a 3.2 final rating, compared to a 1.5 for Federer's win in the French Open.

Third round coverage on Saturday drew a 2.6/7, up 100% from a 1.3/3 last year, and up 30% from a 2.0/5 in '07.

Ratings down, but still strong, for epic Wimbledon final.

NBC drew strong ratings for a classic Wimbledon final.

Roger Federer's five-set victory over Andy Roddick drew a 4.2/12 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 9% from a 4.6/12 for last year's Nadal/Federer final. This year's final ended approximately three hours earlier than last year's rain-delayed match.

The 4.2 overnight is the second-highest for a men's final at Wimbledon since '00, behind only last year's Nadal/Federer final.

To put the 4.2 in perspective, Federer/Roddick easily surpassed the 3.5 overnight for the final round of the '08 British Open, and topped the overnights for 6 of the 7 games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Overnight ratings for Wimbledon men's final since '97.
* The '01 Wimbledon final aired on tape delay on NBC; live coverage of the match on MSNBC drew a 1.0 cable rating.

Year	Date	Time	Matchup	Net	Rating
2009	Sun., 7/5/09	9:00 AM	Federer/Roddick	NBC	4.2/12
2008	Sun., 7/6/08	9:00 AM	Nadal/Federer	NBC	4.6/14
2007	Sun., 7/8/07	9:00 AM	Federer/Nadal	NBC	3.2/9
2006*	Sun., 7/9/06	9:00 AM	Federer/Nadal	NBC	2.9/8
2005	Sun., 7/3/05	9:00 AM	Federer/Roddick	NBC	2.5/8
2004	Sun., 7/4/04	9:00 AM	Federer/Roddick	NBC	3.6/10
2003	Sun., 7/6/03	9:00 AM	Federer/Philippoussis	NBC	2.7/8
2002	Sun., 7/7/02	9:00 AM	Hewitt/Nalbandian	NBC	3.1/9
2001*	Mon., 7/9/01	10:00 AM	Ivanišević/Rafter	NBC	3.0/9
2000	Sun., 7/9/00	9:00 AM	Sampras/Rafter	NBC	5.0/14
1999	Sun., 7/4/99	9:00 AM	Sampras/Agassi	NBC	5.6/17
1998	Sun., 7/5/98	9:00 AM	Sampras/Ivanišević	NBC	4.0/12
1997	Sun., 7/6/97	N/A	Sampras/Pioline	NBC	3.4/-