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CENTENNIAL, Colo. - The Mtn. - MountainWest Sports Network, established a network viewership record for its carriage of the BYU/Utah game on Saturday, November 22, seeing a significant increase over its audience for the game last year. BYU entered Saturday's game with a 10-1 record and ranked 14th in the nation, while Utah came in undefeated (11-0) and boasting a #7 national ranking.
The Mtn. attracted an average of 92,000 cable and satellite households (HH)[1] with a 110,000 HH peak in the Salt Lake City DMA. That marks a 52% increase for the network's household viewership over 2007. The game drew an average audience of 9,000 HH (13,000 peak) in the Albuquerque and Las Vegas[2] DMAs.
The Mtn.'s pre and post game show, The Mtn. Live at The Stadium, also drew record numbers for a non-live sporting event on the network, delivering an average 61,000 HH in Salt Lake City pre-game from 3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. MT, while an average 70,000 HH tuned to the postgame show from 7:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. MT.
The Mtn's production of the BYU/Utah game in 2007 was simulcast on VERSUS and CSTV, now CBS College Sports Network. Cable carriage on VERSUS generated a 5.2 average (18,000 HH) in the Salt Lake City DMA, while The Mtn. garnered an average 14.0 rating (47,500 HH). Data was not available for CSTV.
By comparison, The Mtn.'s cable-only rating for 2008 in the Salt Lake City DMA was a 21.4 average/75,000 HH, eclipsing the combined MTN/VERSUS total from the previous year by nearly 10,000 HH.
[1] Source: Nielsen Media Research, Galaxy Navigator, Preliminary Data (11/22/08; 3:30pm - 8:00pm)
2 The Mtn. currently receives ratings information in the Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City DMAs.
