Bears-Falcons game beats the NLCS - in Los Angeles

While it was a given the Chicago Bears-Atlanta Falcons game would win Sunday Night's local rating race, one place where it also wound up winning in the ratings was unexpected - in Los Angeles opposite a National League Championship Series playoff game - involving the Dodgers.

The Bears-Falcons game on KNBC-TV in Los Angeles from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time outdrew Game 3 ofthe Los Angeles Dodgers-Philadelphia Phillies playoff game by 15 percent

The Bears-Falcons game had a 8.4 Nielsen household rating; the baseball game had a 7.3. The rating is remarkable, given Los Angeles hasn't had a NFL team since 1994 when both the Rams and Raiders left.

Okay, the Dodgers-Phillies game was over early - with the Dodgers getting blanked 11-0 by the Phillies - and the NLCS was on TBS this year - with reaches fewer homes since it is on basic cable.

The playoff ratings in Los Angeles for the Dodgers - as well as the Angels - have been a concern for Major League Baseball as numbers for the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies have been much higher in their respective home markets.

And those ratings might get worse in L.A., since both the Angels and Dodgers are down 3-1 in their respective playoff series against the Yankees and the Phillies.

The last time the Angels were in the ALCS, they played the Chicago White Sox, which drew a 15.8 rating in Los Angeles - but did a 26.4 rating here in Chicago. The Dodgers' appearance in last year's series against the Phillies drew a weaker 10.7 in L.A., but a 25.9 in Philadelphia.

As for the Bears telecast locally, it did a 33.9 household rating and a 50 share, meaning half of the TV sets were tuned to the game in the Chicago area.

But the Bears are 0-and 2 in Sunday Night Football games on NBC this year, with a Sept. 13 loss to Green Bay. The next SNF appearance for the Bears will  be on Novemebr 22, a home game against the Eagles.

I guess NBC's bad luck is rubbing off on the Bears. The team's offense Sunday was about as disastrous as The Jay Leno Show.


Flashback: Remember last year when a reporter for TV Weak Week wrote that last year's World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies was a small-market matchup? Even though Philadelphia is the fourth-largest market with over 2 million people? Well... he's gone and so is TV Weak Week for the most part, now only a website with very little original content.

Sad. But it pays to get your facts straight.