Over seven million viewers tuned into the first primetime broadcast of the NFL Draft.
ESPN drew a 4.6 U.S. rating and 7.3 million viewers for coverage of the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft on Thursday night, according to Nielsen fast-nationals. This marks the most-viewed first round of the NFL Draft ever on ESPN.
Thursday’s telecast was up 35% in ratings and 44% in viewership from last year’s first day of the draft (3.4, 5.1 mil), which took place on a Saturday afternoon and included the first and second rounds, and up 35% and 45%, respectively, from 2008 (3.4, 5.0 mil).
ESPN averaged 7.7 million viewers in primetime (8-11 PM), second-place for the night among all television networks, behind only CBS (13.3 mil).
Thursday’s telecast drew a 3.2 rating among adults 18-49, a 3.3 among adults 18-34 and a 3.2 among adults 25-54 — #1 for the night in all three demographics, as well as all key male demographics.
For perspective, the first round drew a higher rating than Game 7 of the ’09 Stanley Cup Finals on NBC (4.3), the 2009 Indianapolis 500 on ABC (4.0), all but one game of the 2009 NLCS on TBS, the 2010 NBA All-Star Game on TNT (3.8) and the first two rounds of The 2010 Masters on ESPN (3.4 and 2.8).
Additionally, Thursday’s coverage ranks as the eighth-most viewed program of the year on cable.
Jacksonville was the highest rated market for Thursday’s coverage, with a 10.9. New Orleans, home of the defending champion Saints, followed with a 10.8.
Cleveland (9.2) and Oklahoma City (8.6) finished in the top five — even though the Cavaliers and Thunder both played in NBA Playoff games on Thursday night. Local ratings for the playoff games in those markets were not immediately available.
