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.