The Zenyatta vacuum is still being felt a year later in the
television ratings for the just-completed Breeders’ Cup World
Championships, which were shown on a combination of ESPN2, ABC, and ESPN
Nov. 4-5 from Churchill Downs in Louisville.
Overnight ratings, which measure the
top U.S. markets, reflected downturns in viewer interest as neither
Havre de Grace nor Uncle Mo captured the imagination of the public as
the then-undefeated Zenyatta did in 2010.
For the portion of the Nov. 5 program
shown on ABC from 2-3:30 p.m. ET, the Breeders’ Cup telecast earned a
1.2 rating and a 3 share, both down from 1.7/4 a year ago. The share
measures the percentage of TVs in use that were tuned to the program.
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