ESPN Sunday Baseball Earns Most Viewers Of The Season, Fails To Outdraw Lifetime's Army Wives. Sports TV Ratings, In Context.

A weekly feature wherein we contextualize TV ratings for national sports broadcasts. Data via Nielsen and Sports Business Journal's John Ourand. Viewership numbers represent approximate number of persons tuned to a given program; ratings share refers to the percentage of all households using a television who are turned into that program.

Monday, July 2: America's Got Talent (NBC): 10.4 million viewers U.S. Olympic trials, swimming (NBC): 7.4 million viewers The Bachelorette (ABC): 7.4 million viewers

Tuesday, July 3: Rizzoli & Isles (TNT): 5.3 million viewers Abismo de Pasion (Univision): 4.0 million viewers Tour de France [tape delay, aired in primetime] (NBCSN): 326,000 viewers

Wednesday, July 4: Macy's 4th of July fireworks (NBC): 8.1 million viewers Cine de las Estrellas [2012, en español] (TeleFutura): 860,000 viewers Tour de France [live] (NBCSN): 356,000 viewers

Thursday, July 5: No highly rated sporting events.

Friday, July 6: No highly rated sporting events.

Saturday, July 7: Fox Saturday Baseball [ multiple games] (FOX): 3.7 million viewers NASCAR Sprint Cup at Daytona (TNT): 5.4 million viewers; 735,000 viewers for simulcast on TruTV Law & Order: SVU, rerun (NBC): 3.1 million viewers MLS soccer, Colorado Rapids at Seattle Sounders (NBCSN): 151,000 viewers

Sunday, July 8: Wimbledon, men's final (ESPN): 3.9 million viewers Sunday Night Baseball, New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox (ESPN): 3.0 million viewers Army Wives (Lifetime): 3.3 million viewers MLS soccer, LA Galaxy at Chicago Fire (ESPN): 496,000 viewers