TV ratings for sports other than hockey

[Kirk Van Houten]

NBA Opening Night games hit low opposite NLCS Game 7

The baseball competition was tougher than usual, but a nine-year low is surely not what was expected of NBA Opening Night.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Wembanyama's debut big for ESPN, outdraws Opening Night games

Victor Wembanyama's first NBA game delivered in the ratings for ESPN, scoring a larger audience than both Opening Night games on TNT.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Tuesday’s NBA Opening Night doubleheader on TNT averaged 2.78 million viewers, marking the least-watched Opening Night slate in nine years (2014: 2.36M) and second-least watched in 15 (2008: 2.58M). Viewership declined 16% from last year (3.30M). In particular, Lakers-Nuggets averaged 2.84 million viewers and Suns-Warriors 2.71 million, down 5 and 24 percent respectively from last year’s games (Sixers-Celtics: 2.98M; Lakers-Warriors: 3.55M).

Wednesday’s Mavericks-Spurs NBA regular season game, which marked the first game in the career of Spurs #1 pick Wembanyama, averaged a 1.7 rating and 2.99 million viewers on ESPN — the network’s most-watched Opening Week game since Rockets-Lakers in 2018, LeBron James’ first home game as a Laker (3.36M). Ratings were not immediately available. Viewership was slightly below LeBron James’ 2003 career debut against Sacramento, which also aired on ESPN on the opening Wednesday of the season (3.03M). Zion Williamson’s debut in January 2020 — which took place months into the season due to injury — averaged 2.36 million on ESPN. Neither of those figures include out-of-home viewing.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Ratings: NBA Opening Week, NHL "Frozen Frenzy," racing

After stumbling on Opening Night, the NBA has recovered to its best start in six years. Plus: solid numbers for ESPN's NHL "Frozen Frenzy."

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The first three nights of the NBA season averaged 2.57 million viewers across TNT and ESPN, up 13% from last year and the highest three-night average since 2017. After viewership declined 16% for Opening Night on Tuesday, the two subsequent nights increased 80 and 18 percent respectively from last year. All six games on ESPN and TNT this season have averaged at least two million viewers, the longest streak to start a season since 2013-14.

Yet another double-digit gain for TNF

For the seventh-straight week, Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football scored a double-digit gain over last year.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

For the seventh-straight week, Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football scored a double-digit gain over last year. The latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video (Buccaneers-Bills) averaged a 5.3 rating and 11.22 million viewers, up 7% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (Ravens-Buccaneers: 5.0, 10.01M). All seven TNF games this season have posted a double-digit increase in viewership. TNF is now averaging 12.66 million viewers this season, up 23% from last year (10.29M)

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

World Series opens at record-low, below 2020 "bubble"

Friday’s Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series Game 1 averaged a 4.6 rating and 9.17 million viewers on FOX (9.35M across all Fox platforms), marking the lowest rated and least-watched Game 1 of the Fall Classic on record. The previous lows were a 5.1 and 9.35 million for Rays-Dodgers in the 2020 “bubble” (~9.5M across all platforms). No other Game 1 has averaged less than a 5.7 rating (Phillies-Astros last year) or 10.93 million (Braves-Astros in 2021). Ratings fell 18% and viewership 20% from last year’s aforementioned Game 1 (5.7, 11.48M). Historically low ratings have become the norm for major sporting events in this decade, though the 2020 COVID year has generally remained in a class by itself. Prior to this year, Dodgers-Rays accounted for the four smallest World Series audiences on record and five of the bottom seven.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

World Series scores lowest rating ever in Game 2

Game 2 of the World Series (Diamondbacks-Rangers) averaged a 4.0 rating and 8.15 million viewers on FOX Saturday night (8.38M including Fox Deportes), marking the lowest rated and least-watched World Series game on record. The previous lows were set by Dodgers-Rays Game 3 in the 2020 “bubble,” which averaged a 4.3 and 8.34 million (8.63M including Fox Deportes). Despite the sizable decline and record-low, Game 2 was still the top sporting event of the day — topping the Georgia-Florida college football game on CBS earlier in the day (3.0, 5.95M). The college football competition was nonetheless stiff, as Ohio State-Wisconsin on NBC (2.6, 4.87M) and Colorado-UCLA on ABC (2.6, 4.66M) combined to average 9.53 million in the competing Saturday night window.

College volleyball shatters record in post-NFL slot

Airing immediately following the NFL in most of the country, regionalized college volleyball action averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.66 million viewers on FOX — the largest college volleyball audience of any kind on record. Most of the country — 76% — received the Wisconsin-Minnesota match immediately following a 1 PM ET NFL game on FOX. That 1 PM NFL window included Packers-Vikings, meaning that in both Wisconsin and Minnesota the local NFL team led directly into the flagship college squad.

 

[Fatass]

What are the TV ratings for sports in Canada?

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

World Series ratings remain historically low in Game 4

Even without much in the way of competition Tuesday night, World Series ratings remained mired in historically low territory.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Tuesday’s Rangers-Diamondbacks World Series Game 4 averaged a 4.5 rating and 8.48 million viewers on FOX, marking the least-watched Game 4 of the Fall Classic on record. The previous low was 9.56 million for Dodgers-Rays in the 2020 “bubble.” Locally, the game averaged a 19.7 rating and 50 share in Dallas-Ft. Worth and a 12.7/36 in Phoenix. Game 3 the previous night had a 20.3/47 in Dallas and an 18.1/45 in Phoenix.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Rough

 

[S E P H]

NBA: I think they're losing a bit of steam with LeBron obviously ageing and Curry doing the same. I still believe that they will market to death whoever the next star is, but it seems peeps aren't caring as much. It's probably bad for the NBA that the best team right now is in Denver, which is not a big basketball market. Broncos rule the state until otherwise noted.

MLB: No historic big baseball cities in the finals with not one of their legit superstars in there as well. We would probably see great numbers if Dodgers, Yankees, or Angels made it. Considering where humanity is going, I just don't see how baseball could be a sport like 300 years from now. Everyone is getting everything at a fast rate and when the internet doesn't work for five minutes, people get pissed. I watched some of the final last week and it felt like a regular season game, no energy, no interesting plays, just very static to the point of it being boring. With people's attention span decreasing, I think baseball could suffer from that in the long-distant future.

 

[Golden_Jet]

What are the TV ratings for sports in Canada?

Found a HNIC one.

7pm slot 2 million viewers,
10pm time slot (EST), 1.3 million

Season-opening Hockey Night in Canada delivers hip check to CFL television ratings - 3DownNation

The Canadian Football League had its television ratings chopped down like a solid hip check at the blue line. During Week 19, the Redblacks and Argonauts game went head-to-head with the first Hockey Night in Canada games for the 2023-2024 NHL season. That resulted in the game at BMO Field...

3downnation.com

 

[Melrose Munch]

The world series ratings were abysmal, no other way around it.

 

[NextBigThing]

The world series ratings were abysmal, no other way around it.

Yup. Just like the Stanley Cup Final ratings. Hockey and baseball are not in good shape right now.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

It's wierd since they're both big tv markets but clearly not baseball markets

 

[Melrose Munch]

It's wierd since they're both big tv markets but clearly not baseball markets

Years of losing.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

World Series finale respectable, but series is least-watched ever

The lowest rated and least-watched World Series on record ended on a respectable note in Game 5, attracting a series-high audience.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The full, five-game Fall Classic averaged a 4.7 rating and 9.11 million viewers, ranking as easily the lowest rated and least-watched World Series on record. The previous lows were a 5.2 and 9.95 million for Dodgers-Rays in 2020, and no other World Series has ever averaged less than last year’s 6.1 and 11.78 million. The past four World Series rank as the four least-watched.

 

[CTHabsfan]

Considering MLB's typical national broadcasts involve the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Yankees, and Red Sox, is it really surprising a Series between the Rangers and Diamondbacks drew poor ratings?

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Ratings: NBA, racing, NHL

NBA regular season games were averaging 1.40 million viewers across TNT, ESPN and NBA TV through Thursday, up 3% from the same point last year (1.36M). On TNT and ESPN alone, the games have averaged 2.00 million — actually down from 2.07 million a year ago. After the most-watched Opening Week in six years (2.35M, +10%), viewership took a hit from the World Series in week two. Five of six windows that aired opposite the World Series declined from the comparable week of last season, at which point the Fall Classic had yet to begin.

Not all of the declines can be attributed to the competition. On NBA TV Thursday night, Spurs-Suns — featuring Victor Wembanyama’s 38-point performance — averaged 580,000 viewers, down 12% from Heat-Warriors last year (658K).

Last Sunday’s Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix averaged 1.46 million viewers on ABC, up 42% from last year (1.03M) and the largest audience for the race since it returned to the schedule in 2015. Viewership peaked at 1.94 million from 6 PM ET through the conclusion. F1 racing is now averaging 1.12 million viewers across the ESPN networks, down 7% from the same point last year (1.21M).

Thursday Night Football hot streak continues

The latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football (Titans-Steelers) averaged a 5.5 rating and 11.52 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, up 48% in ratings and 47% in viewership from Eagles-Texans last year, which aired opposite a World Series game featuring the same two markets (3.7, 7.86M). Seven of eight games have averaged at least 11 million viewers, compared to three games all of last season. TNF is now averaging 12.52 million viewers this season, up 25% from the first eight games last year (10.01M). Viewership is up a more modest 18% in adults 18-49 (to 6.00M) and 14% in 18-34 (to 2.65M), resulting in a slightly higher median age (48) than the same period last year (46).

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Ratings: Dolphins-Chiefs, Colorado football, NBA In-Season Tourney

Sunday’s Dolphins-Chiefs NFL International Series game from Frankfurt averaged a 4.8 rating and 9.18 million viewers on NFL Network, making it the most-watched morning NFL game since the first one — Jets-Dolphins from London on CBS in 2015 (9.86M). As goes without saying, it also ranks as the most-watched morning game ever on NFL Network — blowing past the previous high of 5.55 million for Seahawks-Buccaneers from Germany last year. The Chiefs’ win delivered the second-largest NFL audience on cable this season, trailing the ESPN and ESPN2 portion of Bills-Jets in Week 1 (10.96M). Keep in mind that only two Monday Night Football games have aired exclusively on the ESPN networks thus far — and both overlapped with a competing matchup on ABC. The three NFL International Series games on NFL Network this season have averaged 6.5 million viewers, up 20% from last year.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

World Series finale respectable, but series is least-watched ever

The lowest rated and least-watched World Series on record ended on a respectable note in Game 5, attracting a series-high audience.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The full, five-game Fall Classic averaged a 4.7 rating and 9.11 million viewers, ranking as easily the lowest rated and least-watched World Series on record. The previous lows were a 5.2 and 9.95 million for Dodgers-Rays in 2020, and no other World Series has ever averaged less than last year’s 6.1 and 11.78 million. The past four World Series rank as the four least-watched.

Pretty wild to concoct endless ways to consistently increase revenue while your fanbase (as a league) by the numbers appears to be consistently shrinking.

Seems like a bubble that will have to pop at some point.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Cowboys-Eagles scores top audience of NFL season

With the Cowboys losing a nailbiter to their NFL-leading Philadelphia rivals, FOX scored the top Nielsen-measured audience of the NFL season.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Sunday’s NFL national window on FOX (Cowboys-Eagles in 91% of markets) averaged a 13.3 rating and 27.14 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rated and most-watched telecast of the NFL season, per Nielsen. The previous high was 26.09 million for coverage featuring Eagles-Jets on FOX in Week 6. (Including Adobe Analytics, which tracks NBC’s streaming viewership, the top audience of the season remains 27.5 million for the Lions-Chiefs Kickoff Game). In addition to the season-high, viewership was the highest for any Week 9 NFL telecast in nine years — since CBS averaged 29.09 million for coverage featuring Tom Brady’s Patriots against Peyton Manning’s Broncos.

No other NFL telecast cracked the 20 million viewer mark in Week 9. Bills-Bengals placed a distant second with a 10.0 and 18.36 million on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the most-watched Week 9 edition of SNF since 2019 (Patriots-Ravens: 22.03M). CBS placed third for the week with a 7.5 and 14.54 million for its singleheader window (Seahawks-Ravens in 50% of markets). Returning to primetime, Monday Night Football (Chargers-Jets) scored an 8.2 and 14.50 million across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Rounding out the week nine slate, FOX averaged a 6.0 and 11.46 million for the first half of its doubleheader (featuring Rams-Packers).

SEC on CBS dominates week ten college football

The final SEC doubleheader on CBS dominated the college football ratings in week ten of the season, with Alabama-LSU taking top honors.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

LSU-Alabama averaged a 4.6 rating and 8.82 million viewers in the final primetime edition of the SEC on CBS, marking the largest audience of the season on CBS and sixth-largest on any network. Nine games this season have averaged at least eight million viewers, more than last year’s full regular season (seven). Alabama has played in three of the nine most-watched games this season, matching Colorado for the most of any team.

Earlier in the day, Missouri-Georgia averaged a 3.8 and 7.00 million — down 44% in ratings and 46% in viewership from Tennessee-Georgia last year (6.7, 13.06M) but the second-largest audience of the weekend. Overall, CBS took three of the top four spots with Ohio State-Rutgers clocking in at a 2.2 and 3.96 million, the network’s most-watched Noon ET game since 2008. The full CBS tripleheader grossed 19.78 million viewers, making it the most-watched day of college football on any network this season. ABC grossed 19.37 million for its September 23 tripleheader, which included Colorado-Oregon.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Panthers-Bears up 40 percent as TNF continues surge

Even with the Panthers and Bears sporting a combined 3-14 record, Thursday Night Football scored another sizable ratings jump.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video — a matchup of the 1-7 Panthers and 2-7 Bears — averaged a 4.6 rating and 9.56 million viewers, up 40% in ratings and 41% in viewership from Falcons-Panthers last year (3.3, 6.80M). All nine Thursday Night Football games this season have posted a double-digit increase in viewership, with five of the nine up by at least a quarter. Panthers-Bears was still the lowest rated and least-watched TNF game this season, falling below the previous marks of 4.7 and 9.79 million for Jaguars-Saints in Week 7.

 

[Melrose Munch]

TNF needs to be at 11 - 12 million IMO. It's football.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

NFL Week 10 a mixed bag as marquee windows decline

Sunday’s NFL national window (mostly Giants-Cowboys) averaged a 11.0 rating and 21.73 million viewers on FOX, marking the least-watched national window this season (excluding Week 1, when CBS and FOX cannibalized each other with competing doubleheaders). Sunday Night Football also hit a season-low in Week 10, as Jets-Raiders averaged an 8.5 and 15.64 million on NBC. For just the second time this season, Sunday Night Football trailed its Monday night counterpart. Monday Night Football (Broncos-Bills) averaged a combined 9.7 and 17.68 million across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Also on the upswing, CBS averaged an 8.4 and 16.27 million for its Sunday singleheader (Packers-Steelers or Lions-Chargers in most markets).

Michigan-Penn State latest game to top nine million mark

The drama surrounding Michigan helped generate another big audience in what has been a strong college football season.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Michigan-Penn State averaged a 5.0 rating and 9.16 million viewers on the latest edition of FOX “Big Noon Saturday,” marking the sixth-largest audience of the college football season. More games have topped the nine million mark this season (six) than the entirety of last (five). Zooming out further, more games have topped the seven million mark (16) than in any regular season over the past decade. (Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not included in Nielsen estimates prior to 2020.) The big noon lead-in helped FOX to the two largest audiences of the college football weekend, as Utah-Washington followed with a 2.8 and 5.17 million. In other action, USC-Oregon drew a 1.7 and 3.01 million in a rare late night window on FOX the game built on its West Virginia-Oklahoma lead-in (1.3, 2.39M). Tennessee-Missouri ranked fifth with a 2.0 and 3.62 million on the SEC on CBS. CBS was unable to pick the higher-profile Mississippi-Georgia game as it had already made the maximum number of Bulldogs selections. That game, which aired on ESPN in primetime, ranked third for the week with a 2.5 and 4.83 million. The Bulldogs’ blowout win won a primetime window that also included a 1.9 and 3.57 million for Michigan State-Ohio State on NBC and a 1.5 and 2.82 million for Texas-TCU on ABC.

Ratings: NWSL, college hoops, singleheader lead-out

Saturday’s NJ/NY-OL Reign NWSL Championship Game averaged a 0.42 rating and 817,000 viewers on CBS, down 19% in ratings and 11% in viewership from Portland-Kansas City last year (0.52, 915K), but still the league’s second-largest audience on record.

Sunday’s UConn-NC State women’s college basketball game averaged a 0.39 rating and 625,000 viewers on ABC, trailing only an Arizona-Duke men’s game on ESPN2 two days earlier (0.6, 1.19M) as the most-watched game in the opening week of the season. Women’s games accounted for four of top six.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

TNF needs to be at 11 - 12 million IMO. It's football.

And they've been closer to those numbers but games like Panthers @ Bears kills themthe good news for Amazon is they're getting better matchups going foward:

- Bengals @ Ravens
- Dolphins @ Jets (Black Friday)
- Seahawks @ Cowboys

They should get a boost from the next three weeks.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Messi is really good for soccer numbers lol

Thursday (11/16) sports viewership: TNF, USMNT, CFB and more

Thursday Night Football scored its third-largest audience of the season, dominating the rest of television for Thursday, November 16.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Bengals-Ravens averaged 12.92 million viewers on the latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, the third-largest TNF audience of the season and fourth-largest since the series moved to Amazon last year. The Ravens’ win dominated the rest of television with easily the largest audience of November 16.

 

[Mightygoose]

Tight game right to the end for the Als drives strong RDS numbers.