Women’s college basketball has been a good draw for ESPN this season.
Household ratings for women’s college basketball games on ESPN2 are up 15% so far this season, and Big Monday telecasts in particular are up 67%. The February 11 national championship game rematch between Tennessee and Rutgers drew a 0.6 cable rating on ESPN2, helping the Big Monday series to a 0.5 average through five games this season.
Overall, ESPN2 is averaging a 0.3 rating with 295,000 households for its women’s college basketball telecasts. By comparison, Versus averaged 191,000 households for its NHL coverage through the All Star Break.
Even on the Internet, ESPN is seeing increased interest in women’s college basketball. The “consumption of women?s NCAA basketball content on ESPN.com has also seen growth, with an increase of 67% in page views and 62% in visits since Jan. 1 versus the same period last year.”
