The YES Network ran its winning streak to eight years as the most-watched regional sports network in total day.
The RSN, the home to Major League Baseball's New York Yankees and the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets, also finished atop the primetime ratings for the seventh time in eight years, according to network officials.
YES, gauged on a total-day basis, averaged 32,000 households in the New York DMA from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, according to Nielsen data. That matched last year's mark, according to Nielsen data, and was ahead of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia's 20,000.
In primetime (7 p.m. to 11 p.m. nightly), YES averaged 72,000 households, down from 82,000 in 2009. Nevertheless, YES topped CSN Philadelphia -- which garnered 69,000 households in the Philadelphia DMA -- to wear the primetime crown again.
Rounding out the top five in primetime: SNY with 52,000 in the New York DMA; NESN, with 51,000 in the Boston environs; and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, with 46,000 in and around the Windy City, according to Nielsen.
As for total day, SNY was third with 18,000, while NESN and CSN Chicago were knotted with 16,000 households in their respective markets.
Officials at YES, noted that its primetime average was comparable to the 72,000 for the next two New York regional sports networks combined, SNY and MSG. Meanwhile its total-day average of 32,000 TV households exceeded the 29,000 for SNY, MSG and MSG Plus.
On a demo basis, YES notched year-over-year gains in both dayparts among guys and persons 18 to 34.
Relative to its primary property, YES recorded advances with Yankees telecasts of 11% among males 18 to 34 and 25 to 54, 23% with persons 18 to 34 and 11% against adults 25 to 54. Moreover, YES's primetime Yankees telecasts ranked No. 1 in the New York DMA on 39 of 45 straight game nights in such key demos such as males 18+, males 18 to 49, males 25 to 54, persons 18 to 49 and adults 25 to 54, according to network officials.
Elsewhere, Yankees Hot Stove heated up a 48% rise in aggregate delivery per episode, year-over-year, scoring the its highest average audience ever. YES added a second live weekly Yankees Hot Stove show this off-season.
YES's live simulcasts of WFAN's Mike'd Up: Francesa on the FAN show averaged 22,000 in 2010, up 22% from 2009, and the most ever for the RSN's simulcasts of the radio station's flagship mid-day show.
Football Sunday with Mike Francesa recorded a 55% increase to 17,000 households from the start of the 2010 National Football Season through the end of the calendar year. Demos increases included a 50% rise among men and adults 25 to 54.
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