World Cup final was most-watched soccer game in U.S. history

Here is my Tuesday newspaper potpourri, which includes some stuff that appeared on the blog earlier and some that didn't, including information on World Cup ratings, my belated take on the LeBron James show, the first-ever all-cable British Open and a Russ Salzberg feature on Dave Jennings set to premiere on Channel 9 Wednesday night.

Nielsen estimated that a total of 24.3 million people watched the World Cup final on ABC and Univision combined, making it the most-watched soccer game in American history.

New York, which usually is a laggard when it comes to sports ratings, finished third among 56 major markets for the World Cup final on ABC and second to Miami in overall ratings for the World Cup on ABC and ESPN.

So far 2010 has brought the most-watched television show in American history (Super Bowl 44), the most-watched hockey game in 30 years (the Olympic gold medal game), the most-watched NHL game in 36 years, the most-watched NBA game in 12 years and the most-watched soccer game ever.