NEW YORK, N.Y. - The most-watched event on television in the past week is a rarity for two reasons: it happened on a Saturday and before prime time.
The Nielsen company says 20.6 million people tuned in to see California Chrome fail in its attempt to record horse racing's Triple Crown Saturday in the Belmont Stakes. It was the second biggest TV audience recorded for the race over the past two decades, the exception being the 21.9 million in 2004 when Smarty Jones unsuccessfully tried for the Triple Crown.
It's unusual when a television show outside of prime time records the week's highest ratings. Also, Saturday is generally the least-watched television day of the week.
The most popular prime-time shows were the first two games of the NBA Finals.