Outlook for 2011? Increased Ratings, Viewership

After a record year for TV viewing in 2010, sports-related viewership seems set to increase again in 2011.

In 2010, "Sunday Night Football" finished as the most-watched prime-time TV show, attracting an average of 21.8 million viewers and marking the first time a sports program had finished as the most-watched program. Additionally, NFL games accounted for more than half of the top-10 highest rated programs during the fall season.

Ratings for college football fell a bit (in part because of the proliferation of games on TV and the limited success of some traditional powers), but on the whole sports on TV had a great year, and TV viewership in general rose.

According to the Nielsen Company, U.S. residents averaged 34 hours a week watching TV in 2010. That was a 1 percent increase over 2009, and with separate experts predicting $5 per gallon gas prices in the next two years, more and more people may take a stay-at-home approach and watch TV in 2011 and beyond.

That could be especially true for sports on TV because sports broadcasts might benefit most from technology (HD, 3D) that makes the game experience at home more enjoyable for some than the in-person experience at arenas and stadiums.

Even if sports does not attract more viewers -- as has been the case in the first week of this year with the BCS bowls -- those broadcast remain positive, profitable opportunities for broadcast partners. Specifically, although the number of people watching BCS games has dropped this year because of the move from broadcast partners to ESPN, officials at ESPN remain thrilled with the ratings the games have drawn (which are at near-record levels for the all-sports broadcasting giant).