Jets rout Yankees on overnight TV ratings

The New York Jets dropped another disappointing game at MetLife Stadium last night.  But, if it's any consolation to the struggling Jets, they ended up beating the powerful New York Yankees in both the national and local television ratings.

The Jets, who lost 23-17 to the Houston Texans on ESPN's "Monday Night Football," continued the trend of turning Tebowmania into must see TV by outdrawing the Yankees' ALDS Game 2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

Sports Business Journal reported Tuesday morning that the Jets, broadcast on ESPN, drew a 10.0 national rating.  The Yankees, in a game broadcast on TBS, received a paltry 3.6 share.  Not surprising since the NFL generally draws a national audience no matter who's playing.

The real shock was the local New York ratings where Gang Green's lead diminished but still topped the Bronx Bombers in popularity.  The Jets scored a 13.8 rating while the Yankees drew a more respectable 11.0.  Still, disappointing for the Yankees since it was a playoff game.

 




Cynics could point out that over 12,000 seats at the Jets home game went unsold — a statistic the Jets deny — and many of their fans preferred watching the game from the comforts of their living rooms.  Combine that with the fact that there is no accounting of the channel flipping that must have been rampant during the overlapping games and you could make a valid reason for the Jets popularity.

Sunday night's ALDS Game 1 was an even bigger washout for the Yankees.  The broadcast — which was delayed nearly two hours due to rain — got trampled by NBC's game between the New Orleans Saints 31- 24 win over the San Diego Chargers.

The Yankees win over the Orioles drew a meager 3.3 rating while the NFL game, where Drew Brees set an NFL-record by tossing a touchdown pass in his 48th consecutive game, tallied an 11.7 score.