Remember all of the Barbasol jokes?
February 2013 was BTN’s highest-rated month ever in primetime, according to Nielsen metered market data,* up 20 percent over February 2012 and surpassing January’s record ratings.
Fueling the growth was a 33 percent increase in Big Ten Men’s Conference Basketball in February 2013 versus February 2012, with a .88 HH rating versus a .66 rating in BTN’s metered markets.
Also contributing to the growth were significant ratings increases for BTN’s signature series, The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2013, as well as the Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field, the most-watched hockey game on BTN. Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, then ranked No. 2 in the nation, 3-2.
This and the launch of Fox Sports 1 (future home of the B1G CG) in August, makes we wonder how much we're gonna pay to watch Buckeye football, if Cablevision beats Viacom, in court.
A la carte sounds nice...
I know some people don't like the football coverage but BTN has done a great job with their basketball coverage. They are not flashy but I prefer the focus to be on the game rather than the announce team.
I am not surprised viewership is up for the Journey. It has been one of my favorite shows since they started airing it. This year they had a segment showing Matta as a player in high school/college.
The only annoying thing I find about B1G network is that they don't always show replays of key plays during games. They've gotten better, but I think in-game production value still lags ESPN and others.
Be careful complementing ESPN. You're gonna have all the haters fired up.