TV ratings for sports other than hockey

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1844510130219393249

Padres-Dodgers Game 5 is top LDS game since 2017

A deciding game featuring the star-studded, big market Dodgers delivered the largest Division Series audience in seven years.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Friday’s Padres-Dodgers NLDS Game 5 averaged 7.24 million viewers on FOX, per Nielsen fast-nationals (7.5 million including Fox Deportes and streaming) — the largest LDS audience since Yankees-Indians Game 5 on FS1 in 2017 (7.26M) and the largest NLDS audience since Mets-Dodgers Game 5 on TBS in 2015 (7.38M). Compared to the previous NLDS Game 5, Dodgers-Giants on TBS three years ago, viewership increased 9% from 6.64 million.

The Dodgers-Padres series generated two of the three largest audiences of this year’s LDS, with Game 3 ranking third. FOX and FS1 averaged 4.10 million viewers for the NLDS, up 9% from last year on TBS (3.74M) and the most-watched LDS on any network since the 2015 NLDS on TBS. Prior to this year, the last time FOX carried a deciding LDS Game 5 was 2005, when a Monday night Yankees-Angels game averaged 13.7 million.

San Diego led all markets Friday night with a 19.6 and whopping 59 share, meaning that 59 percent of homes using television were tuned to the game. Los Angeles followed with an 11.1 and 41. (It should be noted that 11% of homes in Los Angeles equals a far larger figure than 20% of homes in San Diego.) Kansas City was the top neutral market with a 4.7/15, followed by New York City at a 4.6/15 and St. Louis at a 4.4/14.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1845859078871957712

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Mets-Dodgers scores top LCS Game 1 audience in 15 years

Pitting the nation's top two television markets, the Mets-Dodgers NLCS opened at a fifteen-year viewership high on FOX.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Sunday’s Mets-Dodgers National League Championship Series Game 1 averaged a 4.0 rating and 8.26 million viewers on FOX (8.5M including Fox Deportes and streaming), marking the largest LCS Game 1 audience since 2009, when Angels-Yankees opened with 8.44 million in a Saturday night window on FOX. The previous high over that span was 7.89 million for Cubs-Mets in 2015, a figure that would likely have surpassed this year had out-of-home viewing been tracked in Nielsen estimates back then.

Overall, Mets-Dodgers ranks as the fourth-most watched LCS Game 1 dating back to the 2006 season, behind Angels-Yankees in ’09, Cardinals-Mets in ’06 and Tigers-Athletics that same year (8.59M). (Going back further brings back some considerably stronger audiences, though a few openers in those years aired as part of split-national windows and are thus not comparable.) Mets-Dodgers more-than-doubled last year’s Diamondbacks-Phillies NLCS opener on TBS and truTV (2.0, 3.83M) and increased 10% and 18% respectively from last year’s Rangers-Astros ALCS Game 1 on FOX, which like this year’s game aired in a post-NFL Sunday night window (3.7, 7.02M).

Los Angeles led all markets Sunday with a 12.9 rating and 42 share, followed by New York at a 7.3/20. (The Mets had to compete with a Giants Sunday Night Football game.) San Diego — whose Padres were eliminated by the Dodgers on Friday night — placed third at a 5.8/20. Philadelphia, whose Mets were eliminated by the Phillies, ranked fifth (5.0/13).

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846237229141696863

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846240699101978722

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846236889356947807

 

[End of Line]

Have college football numbers? @Kirk Van Houten

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Have college football numbers? @Kirk Van Houten

Found some here:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846254569858146644

 

[joelef]

Found some here:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1846254569858146644

I keep hearing about how college football is dying.

 

[varsaku]

I keep hearing about how college football is dying.

Maybe if you are not in Big10 or SEC.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Maybe if you are not in Big10 or SEC.

FOX was smart for creating the Friday Night Games slate since ABC got the SEC just like before they were smart creating BIG NOON but still ABC has the SEC to dominate every time on saturday expect the 10PM window.

TNF hits season-low for low-wattage Broncos-Saints game

Thursday Night Football posted its smallest audience of the season for a lopsided matchup of the Broncos and Saints.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football (Broncos-Saints) averaged 9.81 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, marking the least-watched TNF game this season. The first five windows had each topped the 12 million mark, the longest-such streak for TNF in the Amazon era. TNF is now averaging 13.31 million viewers this season, up 3% from the same point last year (12.91M) and the highest average for TNF at this point of the season since CBS and NFL Network averaged 13.60 million in 2016. Broncos-Saints dominated the competing Major League Baseball games, Yankees-Guardians on TBS and truTV (4.3M) and Dodgers-Mets on FS1 (4.0M). The baseball competition was not dramatically stronger than the prior week, when TNF had a substantially stronger 13.18 million opposite Yankees-Royals (3.5M) and Guardians-Tigers (3.4M).

Slow night for LCS opposite Thursday Night Football

MLB League Championship Series viewership took a noticeable hit Thursday night, with Dodgers-Mets hitting a series-low.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Thursday’s Dodgers-Mets National League Championship Series Game 4 averaged a 1.9 rating and 3.96 million viewers on FS1, marking the least-watched NLCS Game 4 since Diamondbacks-Rockies on TBS in 2007, a game that started after 10 PM ET (3.80M). The Dodgers’ rout declined 30% in ratings and 27% in viewership from Phillies-Diamondbacks on TBS and truTV last year (2.7, 5.45M) and 34 and 31% respectively from Padres-Phillies on FOX in 2022 (2.9, 5.74M), but neither of those games faced NFL competition.

It was no match for Broncos-Saints on Thursday Night Football (9.8M) and also trailed the competing Game 3 of the Yankees-Guardians ALCS Game 3 on TBS and truTV, which it overlapped with for more than an hour (4.3M). The Guardians’ extra-inning comeback win, declined 7% from Astros-Rangers on a Wednesday night last year (4.64M) and 8% from the Yankees’ previous LCS Game 3 in 2022, a Saturday afternoon matchup with Houston (4.66M). Versus last year’s Phillies-Diamondbacks NLCS Game 3, which aired in the same Thursday evening window, viewership increased 4% from 4.14 million. Game 3 was not the least-watched game of the series, as Monday’s series-opener averaged 3.94 million opposite Monday Night Football.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Georgia-Texas, Alabama-Tennessee, both top 10 million mark on ABC

The "SEC on ABC" continues to dominate in the ratings, with Georgia-Texas and Alabama-Tennessee topping the ten million viewer mark Saturday.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

ABC averaged 12.9 million viewers for Georgia-Texas and 10.7 million for Alabama-Tennessee in a Saturday SEC doubleheader, per Nielsen fast-nationals and Adobe Analytics — marking the largest and third-largest audiences of the college football season, respectively. The “SEC on ABC” now accounts for the three largest audiences of the season, with Alabama-Georgia last month ranking second (11.99M per Nielsen). According to ESPN, Saturday marked the first time since 1996 that a single network had two games top the ten million mark in a single day. Excluding the SEC Championship, the Bulldogs’ win was the most-watched SEC conference game in about two years, since CBS drew 13.06 million for Tennessee-Georgia in November of 2022.

ABC now owns 11 of the top 14 college football audiences this season, pending final results from the weekend. Four of the 12 most-watched games this season were created by the latest round of realignment — Georgia-Texas, Ohio State-Oregon on NBC the prior week (10.4M across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics), USC-Michigan on CBS last month (6.32M per Nielsen) and Tennessee-Oklahoma on ABC last month (6.27M per Nielsen).

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848490816739938660

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848738867844665464

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848742251339382990

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848744149782061314

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848753705404788810

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848759789540511761

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848765065865891877

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848761139003592791

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848854276120187123

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849152233062981846

Least watched game of the season easily.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Colorado hits Deion-era broadcast TV low

Saturday’s Colorado-Arizona college football game averaged 2.02 million viewers on FOX, marking the least-watched Buffaloes game on broadcast television in the Deion Sanders era. Across all networks, only one Deion-era Buffaloes game has averaged fewer viewers, a Friday night matchup against Washington State on FS1 last season (727K). Colorado games have averaged 3.84 million viewers this season, down 49% from the first eight weeks of last season (7.59M). The team’s top game this season was their blowout loss to Nebraska on NBC in Week 2 (5.67M), while five of their six Nielsen-rated games at this point last season topped the seven million mark. The Buffaloes’ blowout win declined 34% from Texas-Houston in the same window last year (3.08M) and was the least-watched game of the FOX tripleheader, behind Nebraska-Indiana on “Big Noon Saturday” (3.18M) and Kansas State-West Virginia in primetime (1.14M). The two other games posted steeper declines, sinking 68 and 66 percent respectively from last year’s higher-profile windows, Penn State-Ohio State (9.96M) and Utah-USC (3.23M).

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849194556786614395

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Yankees-Dodgers delivers top World Series Game 1 since 2017

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850337312426938493

Friday’s Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game 1 averaged 15.2 million viewers across all platforms (FOX, Fox Deportes, Univision and streaming), per Nielsen fast-nationals and Adobe Analytics — up 62% from last year’s Diamondbacks-Rangers Game 1 (9.35M), up 30% from Phillies-Astros two years ago (11.68M) and the most-watched World Series opener since Astros-Dodgers in 2017 (15.33M). The previous high over that span was a combined 14.33 million for Dodgers-Red Sox in 2018. Locally, Los Angeles delivered a 19.1 rating and whopping 58 share — meaning that 58% of televisions in use in the nation’s second-largest television market were tuned to the game — and a 13.2 and 37 in New York.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

Yankees-Dodgers hits another high in Game 2

Saturday’s Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game 2 averaged 13.44 million viewers on FOX (13.8 million across all Fox Sports platforms), per Nielsen fast-nationals — the largest audience for Game 2 of the Fall Classic since Dodgers-Red Sox in 2018 (13.51M) and a 65% increase from last year’s record-low 8.15 million for Diamondbacks-Rangers. The World Series is now averaging 14.55 million viewers across all platforms — including a Game 1 simulcast on Univision — the highest since Astros-Dodgers in 2017. A two-game average for FOX specifically was not immediately available.

Game 2 drew a 17.3 rating and 55 share in Los Angeles, down a few tenths from Game 2 of the Dodgers’ previous Game 2 in 2020 against the Rays, which aired on a Wednesday night (18.1). Game 1 (19.1/58) was also down a few tenths from 2020 (20.0). The declines in New York are sharper, no surprise given it has been many more years since the Yankees last made the World Series. Game 2 drew a 10.3/32 locally, about a third of the 29.8 the market scored for the second game of Phillies-Yankees in 2009. Game 1 (13.7) had a similarly sharp decline from ’09 (29.7). To say the least, the 2024 television environment bears little in common with that of 2009.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851288304374702391

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851285799959937134

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851291009872703498

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851300902302597551

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851359783841882306

https://x.com/i/web/status/1851007658465308948

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

MNF, World Series, in dead heat Monday night

Viewership for Monday Night Football and the World Series was neck and neck Monday night, with both events having a claim to victory.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

The latest edition of NFL Monday Night Football (Giants-Steelers) averaged a 7.3 rating and 13.34 million viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, edging the competing Game 3 of the Dodgers-Yankees World Series on FOX, which drew a 6.6 and 13.21 million. On that Nielsen-only, English-language basis, the NFL came out ahead. Including streaming and Spanish-language viewership, the World Series had 13.6 million — topping 13.4 million for MNF. The World Series drew a series-high 20.0 rating and 52 share in Los Angeles, while New York turned in an 11.6/29. Ratings for the Giants game in New York were not immediately available.

The narrow margin is a marked shift from last year, when MNF (8.5, 15.21M) nearly doubled Game 3 of the Rangers-Diamondbacks World Series (4.2, 8.13M). Giants-Steelers was the least-watched MNF game to air on both ABC and ESPN, while Dodgers-Yankees was still the most-watched World Series Game 3 in six years. The NFL has now topped the World Series head-to-head in six of the past seven years, the lone exception coming two years ago — when Astros-Phillies Game 5 trounced Eagles-Texans on Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

World Series hits high with over 16 million

A series-high audience tuned in to watch the Yankees save their season and extend the World Series to a fifth game.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Tuesday’s Dodgers-Yankees World Series Game 4 averaged an 8.2 rating and 16.28 million viewers on FOX (16.69M including Fox Deportes), marking the highest rated and most-watched Major League Baseball game since Game 7 of the 2019 World Series (Nationals-Astros: 13.1, 23.22M). The previous highs were a 7.9 for Game 6 of the 2021 Braves-Astros World Series and 15.47 million for Game 1 of this year’s Fall Classic (across FOX, Fox Deportes and Univision). The Yankees’ series-saving win increased a whopping 83% in ratings and 92% in viewership from Rangers-Diamondbacks Game 4 last year (4.5, 8.48M) and 24% and 38% respectively from Astros-Phillies in 2022 (6.6, 11.81M). Ratings and viewership were the highest for a World Series Game 4 since 2017 (Dodgers-Astros: 8.7) and 2016 (Indians-Cubs: 16.71M), respectively. (Keep in mind Game 4 aired on a Saturday night until 2022.)