The 2012 IndyCar season got off to a rough start in the ratings. Meanwhile, the Division II men’s title game suffered a double-digit decline, and recent NBA games on ESPN have been struggling in the ratings.
- IndyCar Opener Down a Quarter: The season-opening IndyCar Series Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg drew a 0.9 final rating and 1.279 million viewers on ABC March 25, down 25% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year (1.2, 1.840M). Rained out coverage in 2010 drew a 0.6 and 814,000 viewers.
- NCAA Division II Title Game Down Double-Digits: The March 25 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship Game between Western Washington and Montevallo earned a 0.8 final rating and 1.033 million viewers on CBS, down 20% in ratings and 27% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.420M), and flat in ratings and down 9% in viewership from 2010 (0.8, 1.130M).
- Heat/Thunder the Lone Bright Spot Among Recent NBA Games on ESPN: Opposite the NCAA Tournament, ESPN’s March 23 Celtics/Sixers and Nuggets/Jazz games drew just 879,000 and 729,000 viewers, respectively. Two nights later, Heat/Thunder scored a significantly stronger 3.517 million viewers (up 134% from POR/OKC last year). Last Wednesday’s Magic/Knicks game drew 1.382 million (down 7% from NJ/NY last year), Friday’s Mavericks/Spurs game drew 1.248 million (down 41% from BOS/ATL last year), and Blazers/Clippers the same night drew 1.604 million (down 33% from LAL/UTA last year).
(March 24-25 numbers from Media Life Magazine; NBA numbers from The Futon Critic [1], [2], [3], [4])
