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By Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY
ESPN bulked up its draft coverage last weekend and possibly attracted the highest rating in four years.
The 3.1 overnight cable rating for Saturday's expanded 10 hours of the draft topped last year's seven-hour coverage by 19%. Moreover, ESPN averaged a 3.6 overnight in the comparable noon-7 p.m. ET period, a boost of 38% from last year.
Sunday's 1.6 overnight for 6 1/2 hours on ESPN, an increase of two hours from last year, rose 23% from 2002.
ESPN's draft coverage beat all Saturday broadcast network shows — led by a 2.3 overnight for CBS' Shell Houston Open golf tournament — and could be the highest first-day cable rating for the draft since a 3.7 in 1999. Last year's two-day draft audience of 25.4 million likely will be topped when final ratings are released today.
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ESPN bulked up its draft coverage last weekend and possibly attracted the highest rating in four years.
The 3.1 overnight cable rating for Saturday's expanded 10 hours of the draft topped last year's seven-hour coverage by 19%. Moreover, ESPN averaged a 3.6 overnight in the comparable noon-7 p.m. ET period, a boost of 38% from last year.
Sunday's 1.6 overnight for 6 1/2 hours on ESPN, an increase of two hours from last year, rose 23% from 2002.
ESPN's draft coverage beat all Saturday broadcast network shows — led by a 2.3 overnight for CBS' Shell Houston Open golf tournament — and could be the highest first-day cable rating for the draft since a 3.7 in 1999. Last year's two-day draft audience of 25.4 million likely will be topped when final ratings are released today.
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