- South Carolina’s championship-clinching victory over UCLA in the College World Series Final drew a 1.2 U.S. rating and 1.853 million viewers on ESPN Tuesday night, down 29% in viewership from last year’s non-clinching Texas/LSU Game 2 (2.620 mil). Monday’s Game 1 drew a 0.8 U.S. rating and 1.192 million viewers, down a whopping 52% from Texas/LSU Game 1 last year (2.500 mil). (pifeedback.com)
- Also Monday, ESPN2 drew a 0.7 U.S. rating and 1.036 million viewers for Nationals/Braves, the first ESPN appearance for Nationals P Stephen Strasburg. Though outdrawn by the College World Series on ESPN (0.8, 1.192 mil), Monday’s game is easily the most-viewed national appearance for Strasburg — topping the previous high of 777,000 for Nationals/Indians on TBS June 13. (pifeedback.com)
- ESPN drew a 0.7 U.S. rating and 925,000 viewers for Tuesday’s NBA Free Agency Summit, featuring Pardon the Interruption hosts Tony Kornheiser, Michael Wilbon and Dan Le Batard. To put those numbers in some perspective, ESPN averaged 1.561 million viewers for regular season NBA games during the 2009-10 season. (pifeedback.com)
On the Air: Wembanyama and the sports debate ‘villain’ playbook
On the latest "On the Air," Armand Broady examines the negative turn in perceptions of Victor Wembanyama and the...
