Dew Tour Bits: Olympic Records & MTV2
September 1, 2008 – 11:12 pm PT by GregTags: AST, Dew Tour —
A couple of AST Dew Tour-related notes since last week was the Wendy’s Invitational and I just happened to catch the delayed broadcast of some of the action on NBC yesterday (it was delayed a week thanks to the Olympics). First off, it turns out that the Olympics were good to the AST. Sunday’s broadcast, which was not delayed by the Games, set a record for viewership for the Dew Tour. Though the tour sent out a release trumpeting the rating it received (2.7 in overnight markets), it didn’t actually didn’t say how many viewers that equalled (Around 3 million households, assuming about 1.12 million households per ratings point). That more than any X Games broadcast, thank you very much ESPN.
Secondly, Saturday night marked the premiere of the show “The Contenders” on MTV2 — one of the fruits of the marriage of the AST with MTV — now I didn’t get to see the premiere, which was all about following Jamie Bestwick, Bucky Lasek, Chaz Ortiz and P-Rod. It’s repeating at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. And probably more times than that. But you have to have MTV2 and I don’t get it.
If you want to watch the remaining three episodes, the second episode airs Sept. 27, a third on Oct. 11 and the last one Nov. 1. The shows will first air at 8:30 p.m. ET, and are scheduled for re-airing seven subsequent times.
At least you can watch a preview of the show below.
AST DEW TOUR DRAWS RECORD TV AUDIENCE
Wendy’s Invitational Live Sunday Broadcast Receives 2.7 Overnight Rating On NBC
NEW YORK - August 26, 2008 - The AST Dew Tour, today announced the live Sunday, August 24 broadcast of the Wendy’s Invitational in Portland, Ore. took in a 2.7 overnight rating. This marks the highest rated Dew Tour broadcast in its four-year history along with being the highest rated daytime action sports broadcast in history. Sunday’s broadcast benefited from an NBC Olympic broadcast “lead-in,” the final day of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Immediately following NBC’s last competition telecast from Beijing, NBC aired live coverage of the BMX Park finals from the Wendy’s Invitational in Portland, Ore. on Sunday, August 24 (4 - 6 p.m. ET.) The Dew Tour broadcast was the third highest rated sports program over the weekend behind only television’s powerhouses, the Olympics and NFL.
“The NBC Beijing lead-in gave us the opportunity to expose first time-viewers to the world’s best action sports athletes,” said Wade Martin, AST President. “These are amazing engaging athletes and competitions, and we look forward to building on the momentum this broadcast has provided.”
The complete 2008 AST Dew Tour schedule is as follows:
Event Date Location
Panasonic Open June 19-22 Baltimore, Md.-Camden Yards Sports Complex
Right Guard Open July 17-20 Cleveland, OH-North Coast Harbor
Wendy’s Invitational Aug. 21-24 Portland, Ore.-Rose Quarter
Toyota Challenge Sept. 11-14 Salt Lake City, UT-EnergySolutions Arena
PlayStation® Pro Oct. 16-19 Orlando, Fla.-Amway Arena