ABCs addition to NFL Draft coverage boosts ratings helps ESP

ABC scored a touchdown with its maiden NFL Draft coverage.The broadcast network'scoverage of Day 1of the drew a 1.2rating among adults 18-49and 4.88 million average viewers, according to . That's up 9.1% and30.5% respectively from the 1.1 and 3.74 million viewer averages on Foxlast year.The NFL Draft's first round coverage combined for 11.101 million viewers on ABC/ESPN/NFL Network. That's down 2% from last year when Fox/ESPN/ESPN2/NFL Network combined for 11.337 million viewers. John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) The 30% boost in viewersshould send champagne corks popping at sister networks ABC and ESPN and their corporate parents atDisney. Why? Because it could help New England Patriots Pet Gear ESPN beat back challengers like Fox that want a piece of the draft. It also helps position ABC for "Monday Night Football" and, dare we say it, a Super Bowl during the next round of NFL contract negotiations.SN's NFL DRAFT HQ: | | ESPN was when Fox got itsfoot in the door of NFL draft coverage last season. A fledgling ESPN discovered the NFL Draft as a TV property way back in 1980 when even the league didn't know what it had and it hogged coverage all foritself Julian Edelman Jerseys the next25 years. The league added its own NFL Network cable channel to the coveragein 2006, but ESPN was still the place to go when it came to watching and following the NFL Draft spectacle.Over 11 million viewers for the NFL Draft:ESPN: 4.864MABC: 4.539MNFLN: 1.698 SportsTVRatings (@SportsTVRatings) Ever since Fox got its camel's nose under the draft tent last year, ESPN has been plotting ways to reclaim what had been lost. ESPN aced out Fox this year by offering sister networkABC as the broadcast replacement for Fox. Then producing an ABC draft special aimed more at casual fans than hard-core pigskin fanatics.I thought ABC's coverage was up and down. The "College GameDay" New England Patriots Jackets crew did a fine job. They know these college football players better than anybody. AddingKirk Herbstreit andCo. to the draft mix last year may have been the game-changing movethat won broadcast rights backfrom Fox. ABC'sproduction values and direction wereexcellent. Nashville provided an incredible backdrop, with 100,000 fans thronging in the streets of Music City.MORE:But some of ABC's entertainment-oriented coverage reeked more of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" than a football show. Host Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America" was joined by singers like Taylor Swift and Luke Bryan. In short, it seemed more like adraft special aimed at viewers who read "People," not "ProFootballTalk."My biggest beef was when Roberts failed to ask special guest Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs up front about the Devin McCourty Jerseys , whichleaked publicly about an hour before the draft started (the Chiefs early Friday morning).ESPN declined tocomment for this column. But sources in Bristol arguedthe Hill story had been covered inESPN's pregame coverage and during Sam Ponder's interview of NFL commi sioner Roger Goodell.The Chiefs didn't own a pick in the first round, or else ESPN might have discu sed the Hill story in more detail. Look for them to go deeper when the Chiefs go on the clock during Day 2 coverage, said a source.FROM MONOPOLY TO MONOTONYPonder's Goodell interview was taped before the explosive audio hit the internet, so Goodell was easily able to fend her off with non-answer answers.Still, I would have been a lot more interested in Mahomes' feelings about Hill than Swift's big promise to reveal the name of her new single at the stroke of Tre Nixon Jerseys midnight."I have been giving some clues. But there are more Gino Cappelletti Jerseys clues to come,"Swift said with a knowing smile."Ooh, that's what you call a tease," Roberts said.So was ABC's coverage.Roberts is one of the best in the busine s. Maybe if she'd had moretime she could have sounded out Mahomes about Hill.But you can't argue with the numbers posted by ABC, a network that stillhas a great sports heritage.Don't forget this networkwas once the ground-breaking home of ABC Sports, "Wide World of Sports" and "Monday Night Football."Look for these two Disney siblings to work more closely together in the future. Especially if ABC and ESPNcanhelp each other fend off NFL competitors like Fox, CBS and NBC.