What Were You Watching?

WISCONSIN vs. NEBRASKA "the showdown"

       Saturday night college football showcased some of the top teams in the nation.  Wisconsin entered the season as a favorite to win the Big 10, after a star studded performance last season that left Quarterback Russell Wilson starting for the Seattle Seahawks.  They opened the season as everyone expected with a win, but got off to a slow start in a week two matchup with Oregon State and became a victim of "overlooking an opponent.  Now they have gotten back on track and our ready for a week five show down with the Nebraska Cornhuskers who entered the game ranked number 22 in the nation.   This matchup should have provided for excellent ratings and a big night of football.  The ratings of this game according to TVbythenumbers were 1.2 million watching which was actually a step down from the last weeks 1.8 million.  Ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by the Nielson company.  This was an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the U.S.  On the other hand, a share is the percentage of television sets in use tuned to the program.  The share number for this given game was 4 million.  These ratings and shares were the highest of the night and earned ABC the top spot for the evening.  In this crazy comeback performance the Nebraska Cornhuskers edged the Wisconsin Badgers on a late 4th quarter field goal after trailing by as much as 17 points throughout the game.

Quarterback Taylor Martinez, fighting his way out of a sack late in a fourth quarter showdown with Wisconsin.

The Middle is Back!

After a break from shows like Modern Family, Two and a Half Men, and The Middle they are back to ABC.  The Middle made its season 4 premier Wednesday night at 8 P.M.  The Middle features your average American family who resides in Orson, Indiana.  Three kids Axl, Sue, and Brick just like any other siblings fight, get into trouble, and are a handful for parents (Mike and Frankie).  In its season premier the Middle had a rating of 2.8 (million) with a share of 9.  These ratings are a bit below the 3.1 rating received after last seasons premier.

Why The Difference

Football has become a sport that is watched world wide.  While people in other countries do not have the capabilities to watch these events live, these games have now become available through live streaming on laptops, desktops, Ipads, and even Iphones.  The ratings for sports events have gone up at a rapid rate due to the streaming with these different accessories.  With the technology constantly changing it has left a positive effect on TV ratings for sports and other shows because people are more inclined to tune into shows while on the go or stuck somewhere without cable.