NBC has ordered season three of drama La Brea. The show, returning for the second half of season two tonight (January 31) with back to back episodes, is about what happens after a massive sinkhole opens in Los Angeles, pulling people and buildings into a mysterious primeval land where the people have no choice but to band together to survive. 

The cast includes Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jon Seda, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chiké Okonkwo, Zyra Gorecki, Jack Martin, Veronica St. Clair and Rohan Mirchandaney. 

Season two began in September.

David Appelbaum created the show and is showrunner and executive producer. The exec producers also include Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Chris Hollier, Adam Davidson, Bryan Wynbrandt, Steven Lilien, Ken Woodruff and Arika Lisanne Mittman.

La Brea is produced by Universal Television and Australia’s Matchbox Pictures, in association with Keshet Studios. ■

Fox News Channel wrestled the weekly primetime ratings crown from ESPN last week as the two networks continue their dominance. 

Fox News averaged 2.4 million viewers for the week of Dec. 13-Dec. 19, regaining the top spot from ESPN, which finished second with 1.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Either Fox News or ESPN have topped the primetime ratings for the past eight weeks. 

Hallmark Channel was third with 1.4 million viewers, followed by NFL Network’s 1.4 million viewers and MSNBC’s 1.3 million watchers. The rest of the top 10 most-watched networks include Paramount Network (1 million viewers), HGTV (870,000), TBS (864,000), Freeform (862,000) and Food Network (794,000). 

Fox News continued to dominate the total day chart, winning for the 44th consecutive week, besting Hallmark Channel (827,000), ESPN (739,000), MSNBC (727,000), and CNN (517,000), according to Nielsen. ■

Live sports programming scored big ratings numbers for several cable networks in October, as nearly half of the month‘s top 10 most-watched networks in primetime offered multiple high-profile live sports events. 

ESPN was primetime‘s most-watched cable network from Sept. 27 to Oct. 31, averaging 2.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Leading the way was Monday Night Football, which averaged more than 13.5 million viewers during the period, said Nielsen. Coverage of Major League Baseball‘s postseason, college football and the new National Basketball Association and National Hockey League seasons also contributed to the network’s primetime win. 

TBS finished third for the month with 2 million viewers on the strength of its postseason baseball coverage. Its MLB playoff games averaged 4.4 million viewers, including an average of 5.2 million viewers for its Los Angeles Dodgers-Atlanta Braves National League Championship Series coverage, reported Sports Media Watch. 

FS1 pulled into sixth place with 921,000 viewers, largely on its coverage of baseball‘s American League playoffs as well as its college football telecasts, while NFL Network finished 10th with 683,000 viewers, buoyed by Thursday Night Football.

With all four networks posting year-to-year gains in October, sports analyst Lee Berke, president and CEO of LHB Sports, said viewers are back to consuming live sports programming in big numbers. “With the league schedules back to where they’re supposed to be seasonally, with no presidential election to contend with and with sports telecasts [enhanced by] featuring audiences in the stands, it all adds up to strong ratings performances for live sports programming,” he said. 

Fox News Channel finished second in the primetime race for the month with 2.3 million viewers, while MSNBC finished fourth with 1.2 million viewers. Hallmark Channel was fifth with 926,000 watchers, HGTV claimed the seventh slot with 907,000 viewers, TLC was eighth with 803,000 viewers and INSP came in ninth with 775,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.

On the total-day front, Fox News was first with 1.4 million viewers, followed by ESPN (892,000 viewers), MSNBC (680,000), TBS (627,000) and Hallmark Channel (547,000), Nielsen said. 

Fox News ended the last full week of summer with another sweep of the weekly cable ratings charts.

The cable news network averaged 2.6 million viewers in primetime during the week of Sept. 13 to Sept. 19 to top all cable networks for the 11th straight week, according to Nielsen. 

ESPN, bolstered by the 15.2 million viewers the sports network generated for it’s Sept. 13 Monday Night Football telecast, finished second with 2 million viewers, while the NFL Network’s 7.3 million viewers for its Sept. 16 Thursday Night Football airing helped the network finish fourth for the week, averaging 1.1 million viewers. MSNBC finished between both sports networks in third place with 1.3 million watchers.

The rest of the top 10 rated networks included HGTV (1 million viewers), TLC (900,000), Hallmark Channel (888,000), CNN (799,000), INSP (797,000) and USA Network (714,000).

On a 24-hour basis, Fox News easily topped all cable networks with 1.4 million viewers for its 30th consecutive weekly win. MSNBC (767,000), ESPN (747,000), CNN (587,000) and HGTV (580,000) rounded out the top five most watched networks on the chart, said Nielsen. 

Fox News was the most watched cable network last week in both primetime and total day for the first week of March, according to Nielsen.

The news networks averaged 2.4 million viewers in primetime to top all cable networks for the week of March 1 to March 7 -- its third straight weekly win in the category, reported Nielsen. MSNBC finished second with 1.9 million viewers.

TNT, on the strength of its March 7 NBA All-Star Game coverage, moved up to third place with 1.3 million viewers, topping fourth place CNN’s 1.2 million viewers. HGTV and Hallmark Channel tied for fifth with 1 million viewers. 

History (944,000), TBS (893,000), Discovery Channel (864,000), and Food Network (805,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime for the week.

Fox News’ 1.3 million average viewers on a 24-hour basis topped MSNBC’s 1.1 million viewers in the category. CNN, HGTV, Hallmark Channel, TNT, Food Network, Investigation Discovery and INSP were all top 10 finishers on a total day basis, said Nielsen. 

 Fox News finished first among all cable networks for the first week in September as cable news and sports dominate the cable ratings charts.

Fox News averaged 3.5 million viewers in primetime during the week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6 to lead all cable networks, with MSNBC finishing second with 2.1 million watchers, according to Nielsen.

TNT (1.7 million viewers) and ESPN (1.5 million) -- bolstered by its coverage of the NBA playoffs -- finished in third and fourth place respectively. TLC, HGTV and CNN tied for fifth with 1.2 million viewers.

NHL playoffs-fueled NBC Sports Network (1.1 million viewers), TBS (926,000) and Hallmark Channel (924,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks for the week. 

Fox News Channel extended its weekly total day winning streak to 35 weeks, besting MSNBC, CNN, HGTV and ESPN, said Nielsen.

ESPN, led by its Monday Night Football telecast, finished atop last week's cable network primetime ratings chart,  according to Nielsen.

The network, which tied for first with Hallmark Channel the week prior, drew 2.5 million viewers to top all networks for the week of Dec. 3 to Dec. 9, said Nielsen. ESPN’s Dec. 3 Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Redskins contest drew more than 11 million viewers to lead all cable shows for the week.

Fox News finished second with 2.1 million viewers, followed by MSNBC and Hallmark, which tied with 2 million viewers, and USA Network, which drew 1.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

A&E Network, HGTV, TBS, CNN and History all tied for sixth last week with an average of 1 million viewers, said Nielsen.

Fox news topped all cable networks on a total day basis with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC, Hallmark Channel, ESPN and Nickelodeon, said Nielsen. 

Fox News continued its domination of the cable weekly ratings charts, winning both the primetime and total day races for the week of Aug. 13-19, according to Nielsen.

Fox news averaged 2.2 million viewers in primetime last week, easily besting MSNBC’s 1.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen. HGTV and USA Network finished third with 1.3 million viewers, followed by ESPN’s 1.2 million watchers.

History (1.1 million viewers), Discovery Channel and CNN (1 million viewers each), Investigation Discovery (987,000) and A&E network (974,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime.

Fox News 1.3 million viewers on a total day basis was the most for any cable network for the 32 consecutive week. MSNBC, Nickelodeon, HGTV and Investigation Discovery followed closely behind, according to Nielsen. 

For an English-language network, the mid-July debut of a new primetime show is largely considered “summertime fare” and a placeholder for programs previewed during the May upfronts and set to bow in September or early October.

In the Hispanic TV world, there’s no summertime dip in viewership, with Latinos who consume Spanish-language television just as likely to watch a telenovela on a steamy August evening as they are on a snowy evening in winter.

That’s why Telemundo has set Tuesday, July 19, as a premiere night for not just one weeknight primetime program, but for three new shows. The Spanish-language broadcast network is essentially replacing three hour-long primetime programs at once.

At 8 p.m., popular Latino actor Carlos Ponce will return to Spanish-language television to join Maritza Rodriguez, Marimar Vega and Adriana Barraza in the romantic comedy telenovela Silvana Sin Lana. The plot centers around a high society woman who loses everything and must avoid falling in love with a fishmonger in the lower-class neighborhood she now lives in.

The 9 p.m. hour belongs to Sin Senos Si Hay Paraiso, the long-awaited sequel to the successful Colombian telenovela Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso. The story now centers around a woman struggling to get ahead in life who wants to demonstrate her true value — without resorting to plastic surgery and without falling into the temptation of the glamorous life of drug trafficking.

At 10 p.m. comes the return of “super series” Señora Acero, officially titled Señora Acero 3: El Coyote. This installment focuses on Mexican immigrants struggling to achieve the American dream while avoiding both detention by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and drug lords who seek immigrants to kidnap and use as slaves in the illegal narcotics trade.

Telemundo president Luis Silberwasser told Multichannel News that the unconventional decision to replace three primetime shows at once — especially given Telemundo's strong June ratings performance — is part of a “deliberate strategy” to entice viewers and show the strength of the network's programming.

 “People are familiar with our 10 p.m. ‘super series,’ Señora Acero, while Sin Senos is a sequel to a successful and bold telenovela that in 2007 and 2008 was shocking and intriguing,” Silberwasser said. “At 8 p.m. we have the romantic take on the telenovela, and having Carlos Ponce on board sends a strong message as to our commitment to bring top talent to our viewers.”

 “We asked ourselves about giving viewers the best in one big night,” he added. “It may be risky. It may be bold. But, it is part of the vision to market Telemundo in a different way, and to change the perception of the Hispanic viewers and what they are all about. We don’t save our premieres until the fall, as there is no lull in the summer when you track our audience. We are enjoying growth, and we hope to continue that momentum.”

Eight weeks after Telemundo’s inclusion in the NBCUniversal Enterprises combined Upfront presentation in New York, the network’s advertisers are “seeing the difference” its current programming has delivered in the Nielsen ratings.

“If you look at the days when Univision has not had Copa América coverage, Telemundo’s regular programming has beaten them,” Silberwasser said. “We are neck-and-neck with them, and the advertisers see this shift in market share and have expressed excitement about the innovation that Telemundo is bringing to the marketplace.”

According to Nielsen data shared by Telemundo, the network outperformed Univision 10 times among adults 18-49 between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknights. Furthermore, the network for the first time ranked No. 1 among adults 18-49 for four consecutive nights between May 30 and June 2.

With all of NBCUniversal's networks set to air programming from the 2016 Summer Olympics from Aug. 5-21, Telemundo is poised for antoher total-day ratings uptick. Telemundo will focus on soccer and diving during the daytime hours, leaving the primetime coverage to sister network NBC.

“The primetime programming on Telemundo stays as it is through the Olympics,” Silberwasser said. A nightly Olympics recap will air at 11:30 p.m. ET, he said.

In addition to its strong national performance, Telemundo has also seen Nielsen strength at its Los Angeles owned-and-operated station KVEA.

According to Nielsen, soon-to-conclude super series El Señor de Los Cielos was a blockbuster, helping KVEA close out June as the most-watched local station in the market, in any language, at 10 p.m. on weeknights among adults aged 18-49.

KVEA’s wake-up newscast, Noticiero Telemundo 52 a las 6, also scored strong ratings for Telemundo, ranking above Univision’s KMEX among 18-to-34-year-olds.

“Telemundo’s commitment to delivering best-in-class entertainment and programming is providing us with a tremendous opportunity to continue to grow our audience and market share,” KVEA president and GM Celia Chavez said. “We are honored that our viewers are choosing Telemundo 52 to get the local news, entertainment and information they need.”

NEW YORK – Rentrak vice chairman and CEO Bill Livek believes the difference between video on demand and primetime linear TV is a lot like gap between cooking with a microwave and an oven – food tastes better in the oven, but “you can’t beat the speed.”

Livek, whose company makes its living measuring TV viewing habits, said at the Multichannel News B&C On Demand Summit here that consumers, in an effort to accommodate their busier lifestyles are making the trade off between watching commercials on the VOD platform for the convenience of merely clicking a button to watch their favorite shows when they want them.

 And the numbers back him up. According to Rentrak, a bout 57 million households have access to VOD, up by about 2 million in the past year. More importnatly, he said, time spent watching VOD has risen to 9.3 hours per month, a bout double the time spend just five years ago.

How viewers spend their time is a key metric, Livek added, using the Fox hit primetime show Empire as an example. Livek said that after Empire’s first five episodes, 83% of the viewing was done after day 3 of original air. Toward the tail end of the season, more than 50% of the viewership was done after day 5.

“This is how VOD is changing the economics,” Livek said. “After the third day the majority of viewership is happening; in primetime, content with the Big Five [broadcast networks], five or seven days almost half of viewership is cumed up.”

Livek argued that despite sentiment to the contrary, TV viewership is essentially unchanged. People, he said, are watching just as much or more TV, they are just watching it on different devices and at different times. It is for that reason, he added, that advertisers and networks should look more closely not just at the shows that attract the audiences they want to reach, but the specific times within those programs. According to Rentrak data, different age groups watch primetime VOD shows at different times.

“Time as a demographic does matter,” Livek said, adding that in general, 50% of viewing is occurring five days or more after original air.

Rentrak corporate president Cathy Hetzel said the measurement company is working with cable industry ad consortium Canoe and Comcast to apply age and gender information to VOD titles. That should eventually expand to other distributors.

“There is going to be a lot more talk about this in the near future,” Hetzel said.

Fox Sports has tapped Rob Stone as its primetime studio host for its upcoming coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup this summer from Canada.

Stone, the programmer's top futbol studio host, will helm the shows, including pregame, halftime and postgame coverage, and other FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015-related fare throughout the month-long tournament from its studio on Coal Harbor in Vancouver. 

Stone, a former Division I soccer player at Colgate, has been with Fox Sports since January 2012, joining from ESPN, where he was involved with the Bristol behemoth's 2006 World Cup coverage from Germany.  At Fox, Stone has led coverage of the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and other top soccer leagues in Europe, in addition to hosting college football and college basketball studio programming. Stone is set to work with a team of Fox Sports soccer analysts to be announced at a later date.

21st Century Fox, which began counting down the 100 days to the distaff tourney with a 30-second promo roadblocked on 34 networks on Feb. 24, will present all 52 matches from Canada, including an unprecedented 16 live on its broadcast network. Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 will also be in game play, flanked by simulcasts on authenticated TVE service, Fox Sports Go.

“Rob is an exceptional studio host with a deep understanding of international soccer, so he is the perfect choice to anchor our Women’s World Cup coverage in prime time,” said David Neal, executive producer for Fox Sports' 2015 WWC coverage.  “An event like this is similar to an Olympics, with many moving parts, and excellent hosts are smart, personable and have a little traffic cop inside them. Rob brings those attributes to the job every day.”

Noted Stone: “Covering a massive global tournament in this role is what few in our industry get the opportunity to do, and I am honored that FOX Sports has entrusted this responsibility to me.I passionately care about this sport and am excited to get started, especially following the excitement we saw during last summer’s World Cup.”

All told, Fox will serve more than 200 WWC hours from north of the border, beginning with reports on America's Pregame and Fox Sports Live on June 4, a preview show the next day and the start of group play on June 6.

Fox  is returning the Emmy Awards to Sunday night in September.

Fox will air the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards live Sept. 20, at 8 p.m. (ET)  from the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

The scheduling is more traditional one for the statuefest, which aired on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in deference to NBC's top-ranked Sunday Night Football package and MTV's Video Music Awards, which aired the night before and garnered 8.3 million viewers.

The Creative Arts Emmy Awards are slated for Sept. 12 and will be televised on FXX at a later date.

The 2014 Primetime Emmy telecast averaged 15.6 million watchers and a 4.2 rating against adults 18 to 49, respective decreases of 12% and 14% from the 2013 edition of the show

It was a good year in Bristol, Conn., where ESPN topped the Nielsen primetime charts among total viewers.

But that wasn’t the case for most of cable’s top 25 networks in 2014. Whether they lost eyeballs to original fare on Netflix, other unmeasurables on video-on-demand, tablets and mobile platforms, viewership that extended beyond  live+7 metrics or watchers who strayed to smaller networks, 18 of cable’s top 25 channels took it on the chin, losing footing versus 2013 levels – with notables like No. 2 USA Network, No. 4 Disney Channel, No. 5 History and No. 6 TBS all sustaining double-digit erosion.

For its part, ESPN saw its primetime audience edge increase 5% to 2.32 million viewers from 2.21 million in 2013, when it finished third, behind its puissant array of pro and college pigskin games.

Other gainers, according to a Disney Media Networks analysis of Nielsen data -- live +7 from Dec. 30, 2013 through Dec. 14, 2014 and live+same-day from Dec. 15 through Dec. 28 – were ninth-ranked Discovery, up 2% to 1.39 million viewers from 1.37 million in 2013, and No. 10 HGTV, which grew 5% to 1.34 million from 1.28 million.

Elsewhere, No. 18 TLC inched up 1% to 1.07 million from 1.06 million. Spike rose 4% to 905,000 from 873,000 to finish 22nd, ahead of No. 23 Hallmark Channel, which benefited from a strong performance from its cadre of Christmas movies, to notch 3% improvement to 894,000 from 868,000 in 2013. ID, though, was the big gainer, scoring a 13% advance to 821,000 watchers from 724,000, as it ranked 24th overall.

For the rest of the top 25, the numbers skewed wrong.  No. 2 USA fell from its usual top perch, shedding 21% to 2.13 million watchers from a sector-best 2.69 million in 2013. With its competitors losing more ground, TNT moved up from fifth to third, averaging 1.99 million, 4% less than its 2.08 million mark the prior year. Leading the pack, TNT registered six of basic cable's top 15 original dramas, with stalwarts like Rizzoli & Isles, joined by newcomers The Last Ship and The Librarians. 

Sliding from second in 2013, fourth-ranked Disney Channel saw its total viewership decline 22% to 1.91 million from 2.44 million, while fifth-place History was off 14% to 1.82 million from 2.02 million in 2013, when it ranked fourth.  TBS stayed sixth, even though it decreased 10% to 1.817 million from 2.02 million.

ESPN and USA were the only cable networks to average more than 2 million watchers in primetime during 2014, versus six the prior year.

Cable news leader Fox News Channel lost 1% of its average audience to 1.78 million from 1.79 million, but remained in seventh place. FX maintained its eighth-place spot, despite a 4% decrease to 1.40 million watchers from 1.47 million.  

Missing the bump from the final run of Emmy winner Breaking Bad,  11th-ranked AMC dropped 4% to 1.33 million from 1.39 million, despite the runaway success of The Walking Dead, which tallied 16 of cable’s largest  20 audiences in 2014.

Cartoon Network was 12th with 1.28 million, down 8% from 1.40 million in 2013. A&E, seeing docuseries hit Duck Dynasty cool, plummeted 30% to 1.26 million from 1.79 million.

ABC Family was No. 14, dipping 2% to 1.20 million from 1.22 million, ahead of Syfy, which lost 7% to 1.113 million from 1.19 million, despite the publicity and social whirl for the second Sharknado telefilm.

No. 16 Lifetime and No. 17 Adult Swim were both off 13% to 1.111 million and 1.08 million. While No. 18 TLC pushed up, the next three services, Food Network, Nick at Nite and Bravo, receded at respective clips of 5%, 2% and 4% to 1.067 million, 1.065 million and 968,000 watchers.

With Spike, Hallmark and ID all to the good, MTV was the last member of cable’s top 25 to retreat, down 4% to 778,000 from 813,000.

The worldwide leader was on top of Nielsen’s primetime cable world in 2014.

Averaging nearly 2.32 million watchers, ESPN set the cable pace in the daypart during 2014, according to Nielsen data. The sports network unseated USA Network, which averaged 2.13 million watchers. TNT, Disney Channel and History rounded out the top five, with 1.99 million, 1.91 million and 1.824 million watchers, respectively.

According to a Disney Media Networks analysis of Nielsen (reflecting a blend of live+seven-day data from Dec. 30, 2013 through Dec. 14 and live+same-day data from Dec. 15 through Dec. 28), TBS was sixth with 1.817 million, ahead of Fox News Channel’s 1.78 million. FX was eighth with 1.40 million, slightly ahead of Discovery Channel’s 1.39 million. HGTV completed the top 10, averaging 1.34 million watchers.

Finishing just outside the top 10: AMC, whose zombie skein The Walking Dead dominated the upper echelon of programming rankings, averaging 1.33 million watchers; Cartoon Nework, with 1.28 million; A&E, which tallied almost 1.26 million; and ABC Family at 1.20 million.

Gauged on a total-day basis, perennial winner Nickelodeon took home the prize again with 1.51 million watchers on average, ahead of rival Disney Channel, which closed the Nielsen calendar with just under 1.4 million. Adult Swim (1.18 million), USA (1.16 million) and Fox News (1.06 million) rounded out the top 5 in this measure.

How dominant was The Walking Dead? The show, which benefits greatly from time-shifted viewing, chomped 16 of the top 20 spots, including nine of the top 10, headed by almost 23.4 million for the bow of its fifth campaign on Oct. 12. That installment was illustrative of how the show grows with delayed viewing, The premiere garnered 17.3 million watchers, a record for a cable drama, but the installment tacked on an additional 6.1 million watchers to its total on the live+7-day measure.

ESPN’s college and pro football coverage scored the other eight spots. The final BCS Championship game, Florida State’s last-second win over Auburn on Jan. 6 (pictured), was cable’s top show of 2014, tomahawk-chopping over 25.7 million watchers.

TNT rode its original series to the top of the third-quarter primetime ratings charts, the second straight quarterly win for the drama network.

TNT, whose second-quarter win broke USA Network’s record of 31 straight winning quarters dating back to the mid-2000s, made it two in a row by averaging 2.2 million viewers (down 3% from Q3 2013) during the period of June 30 to Sept. 28, according to Nielsen ratings figures. TNT was paced by strong performances from established original series Major Crimes and Rizzoli & Isles, as well as new series The Last Ship.

USA finished second, averaging 2.1 million viewers, which was off 23% from the same period last year. Helped by strong performances from WWE Monday Night Raw and Suits, USA took the top spot among entertainment networks in key demos, including adults 18-49, adults 25-54 and adults 18-34, according to Nielsen.

Disney Channel finished third among all basic-cable networks, averaging 1.9 million viewers, down 24% from last year, followed by ESPN (down 8%) and Fox News Channel (up 11%), which tied with 1.8 million viewers each, according to Nielsen.

History fell 16% from Q3 2013 in finishing fifth, with 1.7 million viewers, while TBS (1.6 million viewers, down 12%), HGTV (1.4 million, up 8%), FX (1.3 million, down 2%), Discovery Channel (1.3 million, down 1%) and A&E Network (1.2 million, down 32%) rounded out the top 10.

On a 24-hour basis, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon finished in a virtual tie, both averaging 1.4 million viewers and both falling off 20% from the same period last year. Adult Swim (1.1 million viewers, down 9%) finished third, while USA lost 11% of its audience, Cartoon Network broken even and Fox News was up 2% as the three networks tied with 1.0 million viewers.

On the cable news front, Fox News continued its dominance of the category, averaging 1.8 million viewers to top all comers. CNN barely nipped MSNBC for second-place honors, with CNN posting a 3% increase to 562,000 viewers and MSNBC dropping 4% to 561,000 watchers, according to Nielsen. HLN finished fourth with 357,000 viewers, which was down 3% from last year.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football games and its July 1 FIFA World Cup telecast represented the top five most-watched shows during the quarter, with a Sept. 9 episode of FX’s drama series Sons of Anarchy, MTV’s Aug. 24 Video Music Awards telecast and three summer episodes of TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles making up the top 10 shows for the quarter, according to Nielsen.

Football may be king on the weekends, but Major League Baseball carries primetime in a dozen of the 29 markets that are home to ballclubs in the U.S.

According to Nielsen data, the games of 12 MLB teams ranked as the top programming in primetime across all of television, including broadcast, in those markets from the start of the 2014 season on March 31 through July 24, a week after the All-Star break ended. The period spans the last seven weeks of the 2013-14 TV season, plus the first two months of the summer season, when broadcast reduces its output, while cable ramps up its original production slate.  

Additionally, games of seven other MLB squads, placed either second or third in their DMAs over the aforementioned span.

The games that reside atop primetime during the period in their respective DMAs: Detroit Tigers (FS Detroit); St. Louis Cardinals (FS Midwest); Pittsburgh Pirates (Root Sports Pittsburgh); Cincinnati Reds (FS Ohio); Cleveland Indians (SportsTime Ohio); Baltimore Orioles (MASN); Seattle Mariners (Root Sports); Boston Red Sox (NESN); San Francisco Giants (CSN Bay Area) Arizona Diamondbacks (FS Arizona); Kansas City Royals (FS Kansas City); and Milwaukee Brewers (FS Wisconsin). (see list below)

Meanwhile, contests involving the rallying Tampa Rays (FS Florida) ranked second in the Tampa DMA. Games showcasing the Philadelphia Phillies (CSN Philadelphia); Minnesota, Twins (FS North); Atlanta Braves (FS South); San Diego Padres (FS Padres); Colorado Rockies (Root Sports Rocky Mountain); and the New York Yankees (YES) all finished third in their respective markets. 

The Yankees telecasts on YES, which scored a 19% gain in primetime ratings to a 3.37 mark and averaged 251,000 households, connected with the largest primetime audience for MLB telecasts on the RSNs, but trailed WABC and WCBS in the Big Apple.

Other teams that rank in the top nine in primetime in their home DMAs: Chicago Cubs (7th, CSN Chicago); Chicago White Sox (9th, CSN Chicago); Rangers (6th, FS Southwest); Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (8th, FS West); Marlins (8th, FS Florida); New York Mets (7th, SNY); Oakland A’s (6th, CSN California); and Washington Nationals, (5th, MASN).

The top baseball ratings gainers for all games this season through July 24 were the Milwaukee Brewers. The team's telecasts jumped 35% to a 5.90 rating in the Milwaukee DMA on FS Wisconsin from a 4.37 mark at the same stage of last year, behind the resurgent club. The Marlins, which are exceeding on-field expectations by playing .500 ball,were second, as their game telecast average through July 24 rose 34% to a 1.58 in the Miami DMA on FS Florida, up from a 1.18 average.

Conversely, Texas Rangers games on FS Southwest through July 24 sustained 47% ratings erosion in the Dallas DMA to a 2.53 average from a 4.73, as injuries have pushed the team to the worst record in MLB.

The Dodgers, now on SportsNet LA, have endured the largest drop through July 24. Dodgers games have plummeted 70% to a 0.74 rating from a 2.33 during the corresponding stage of the 2013 season, when they aired on Prime Ticket. SportsNet LA only has carriage deals with Time Warner Cable in the Los Angeles DMA, as all other distributors have balked at a monthly carriage that exceeds $4 per subscriber. The FCC is now stepping onto the field in trying to help resolve the impasses.

The Houston Astros have also suffered continued low ratings in the wake of limited carriage for CSN Houston.

MLB Games Top Primetime On RSNs

Market     Team          Ratings/Households   Rank

Detroit      Tigers          8.38/156,000            1

St. Louis     Cardinals    7.56/95,000               1

Pittsburgh  Pirates       7.56/89,000               1

Cincinnati   Reds          7.01/64,000               1

Cleveland    Indians      6.73/100,000           1

Milwaukee Brewers     6.16/56,000              1

Baltimore   Orioles       6.03/66,000              1

Kansas City Royals       5.93/56,000               1

Seattle         Mariners  5.72/106,000             1

Boston        Red Sox     5.64/137,000            1

S.Francisco  Giants       4.86/122,000           1

Phoenix        D’backs    3.92/73,000              1

Tampa          Rays          4.32/79,000             2

Minneapolis Twins       4.09/71,000             3

Philadelphia  Phillies    3.43/102,000           3

New York     Yankees    3.37/251,000           3

Atlanta         Braves       3.36/80,000             3

San Diego    Padres       3.19/34,000            3

Denver        Rockies      2.95/46,000             3

Source: Nielsen data from March 31 through July 24, 2014.            

The NFL has released its 2014 schedule, the first under its new multiyear, multibillion rights contracts with its network partners. But it was the newest entry – Les Moonves’ Thursday night package featuring CBS and NFL Network – that attracted much of the attention.

Kicking off with the second week of the season, CBS will air Thursday night games that will be simulcast on NFL Network through late October, before the league’s in-house network picks up the ball during the second half of the campaign (see schedule below)

Not surprisingly, the better games by DMA and on paper are on tap for CBS’s portion of the slate. The NFL wants to become more of a player on one of TV and advertising’s top nights. CBS’s deal is for one year, with the presumption that big Nielsens will make the rights bidding climb higher for subsequent seasons – and perhaps punt NFL Network out of the game equation entirely.

CBS’s first game on Sept. 11 is the heated AFC North division rivalry pitting the Steelers at the Ravens in Baltimore.  On Sept. 25, there’s the big market NFC East match-up between the Giants and Redskins (before both teams potentially descend to the league’s lower ranks), while the G-men’s Met Life Stadium neighbors, the Jets, travel to Foxboro to meet Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s Patriots on Oct. 16. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Indy’s Andrew Luck are also on the docket, before the simulcasts end with a playoff rematch between the Chargers and Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl runner-up Broncos on Oct. 23. The only clunker: Tampa at Atlanta on Sept. 18.

NFL Network begins going it alone (at least on-air, CBS is producing the games and Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will make the calls) on Oct. 30 with a strong NFC South matchup between playoff squads, New Orleans and Carolina. Cowboys-Bears matches two of the league’s most popular franchises on Dec. 4. There are also a host of divisional battles, albeit not the most intriguing ones: Browns-Bengals on Nov. 6; Bills-Dolphins on Nov. 13; Chief-Raiders on Nov. 20; Cardinals-Rams on Dec. 11. The last Thursday nighter is Titans-Jaguars on Dec. 18. Surely, you didn’t think these NFL Network staples were going to wind up on CBS?

As to Monday Night Football, ESPN -- the league’s top rights payor at $1.9 billion, $2 billion when you tack on its first playoff game, a Wild Card affair -- has a good schedule this year. All 12 NFL playoff squads are on its roster, including Denver and their Super Bowl XLVIII conquerors, Seattle.

Eight squads – Bears, Colts, Giants, Jets, Saints, Eagles, Steelers, Redskins – will appear twice on MNF.  If the New York teams, Bears, Redskins and Eagles are good, Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden and John Skipper should all be happy.

There are smiles all around at 30 Rock and in Stamford, as NBC once again has been awarded a top-flight Sunday Night Football schedule.  Looking at a three-peat as TV’s top show this campaign, SNF looms as a favorite to win the 2014-15 season as well, something Roger Goodell, Brian Rolapp, Steve Burke and Mark Lazarus can all make like Peacocks about.

Not only is the entire 2013 playoff field part of the lineup, but 16 of NBC’s 18 scheduled games involve at least one postseason participant and half of the contests match two.

There are three games apiece from the Seahawks, Broncos, Patriots, Packers and 49ers, not to mention Jerry Jones’s mediocre men.

And for those really keeping score – NBC arguably has the two best Thursday night games to boot: The Sept. 4 season opener in which the Packers visit Paul Allen’s Seahawks and the Thanksgiving nightcap at the Field of Jeans, the NFC championship game rematch between Seattle and San Francisco.

CBS/NFL Network Schedule

Sept. 11: Steelers at Ravens
Sept. 18: Buccaneers at Falcons
Sept. 25: Giants at Redskins
Oct. 2: Vikings at Packers
Oct. 9: Colts at Texans
Oct. 16: Jets at Patriots
Oct. 23: Chargers at Broncos
Oct. 30: Saints at Panthers (NFL Network)
Nov. 6: Browns at Bengals (NFL Network)
Nov. 13: Bills at Dolphins (NFL Network)
Nov. 20: Chiefs at Raiders (NFL Network)
Dec. 4: Cowboys at Bears (NFL Network)
Dec. 11: Cardinals at Rams (NFL Network)
Dec. 18: Titans at Jaguars (NFL Network)
Dec. 20: Eagles at Redskins (NFL Network/CBS)
Chargers at 49ers (CBS/NFL Network)

ESPN's MNF Schedule

Sept 8: NY Giants at Detroit (7:10 p.m.)
Sept. 8 {San Diego at Arizona (10:20 p.m.)

Sept. 15: Philadelphia at Indianapolis
Sept. 22: Chicago at NY Jets
Sept. 29: New England at Kansas City
Oct. 6: Seattle at Washington
Oct. 13: San Francisco at St. Louis
Oct. 20: Houston at Pittsburgh
Oct. 27: Washington at Dallas
Nov. 3: Indianapolis at NY Giants
Nov. 10: Carolina at Philadelphia
Nov. 17: Pittsburgh at Tennessee
Nov. 24: Baltimore at New Orleans
Dec. 1: Miami at NY Jets
Dec. 8: Atlanta at Green Bay
Dec. 15: New Orleans at Chicago
Dec. 22: Denver at Cincinnati

NBC's Schedule

Sept. 4: Packers at Seahawks

Sept. 7: Colts at Broncos
Sept. 14: Bears at 49ers
Sept. 21: Steelers at Panthers
Sept. 28: Saints at Cowboys
Oct. 5:  Bengals at Patriots
Oct. 12: Giants at Eagles
Oct. 19: 49ers at Broncos
Oct. 26: Packers at Saints
Nov. 2: Ravens at Steelers
Nov. 9: Bears at Packers
Nov. 16: Patriots at Colts
Nov. 23: Cowboys at Giants

Nov. 27: Seahawks at 49ers (Thanksgiving)
Nov. 30: Broncos at Chiefs
Dec. 7: Patriots at Chargers
Dec. 14: Cowboys at Eagles
Dec. 21: Seahawks at Cardinals