Ratings for select nationally televised sporting events from Saturday, February 18 through Friday, February 24.
Among the notable items:
- Nine-Year High For Northern Trust Open: The PGA Tour had another solid weekend, as final round coverage of the Northern Trust Open was the highest rated and most-viewed for the event since 2003. The last three PGA Tour events have had double-digit increases in ratings and viewership compared to last year.
- Good Week For the NBA: The February 19 Mavericks/Knicks and Magic/Heat games rank among the ten highest rated non-Christmas regular season games on ABC. Meanwhile, Knicks/Heat later in the week drew the fifth-largest NBA regular season cable audience since at least 1995-96, and the NBA All-Star Rising Stars Challenge set a viewership record.
- Mixed Numbers For ‘Hockey Day in America’: NBC earned a 1.3 final rating and 1.939 million viewers for regional NHL action on February 19, tied as the highest rated NHL telecast on any network (excluding the Winter Classic) since 2004. Meanwhile, Bruins/Wild drew a 0.9 and 1.378 million, down 18% in ratings and 28% in viewership from last year (PIT/CHI: 1.1, 1.9M).
- Cartoon Network Has ‘Game’: The ‘Hall of Game Awards’ on Cartoon Network earned 2.585 million viewers on President’s Day, easily topping an NBA doubleheader on TNT and a college basketball doubleheader on ESPN.
- Just 52,000 Viewers For Lacrosse on NBCSN: The February 19 Moe’s Southwest Grill Classic — a college lacrosse doubleheader featuring Denver/Ohio State and Jacksonville/Navy — drew a mere 0.0 U.S. rating and 52,000 viewers on NBC Sports Network.
- … and the rest: Other notable events include college basketball on CBS and ESPN, the PBA Tour on ESPN, and even ‘The Sports Reporters’.
Weekly ratings for February 11-17 available here.
Sports TV Ratings (February 18-February 24)
| Time | Sport | Event | Net | Rating | Viewers (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, February 18 | |||||
| 8 PM | NASCAR | Budweiser Shootout | FOX |
4.2
|
7,467
|
| 3 PM | Golf | Northern Trust Open, Third Rd. | CBS |
2.1
|
2,870
|
| 8:59 PM | NCAAMB | Ohio State/Michigan | ESPN |
1.3
|
2,006
|
| 4:03 PM | NCAAMB | Clemson/North Carolina | ESPN |
1.0
|
1,370
|
| 5 PM | Other | Red Bull Signature Series: Crashed Ice (Valkenberg) | NBC |
0.8
|
1,188
|
| 6:03 PM | NCAAMB | St. Mary’s/Murray State | ESPN |
0.8
|
1,066
|
| 1 PM | NCAAMB | Regional action | CBS |
0.7
|
978
|
| 2:03 PM | NCAAMB | Missouri/Texas A&M | ESPN |
0.7
|
899
|
| 3:30 PM | Extreme | USSA Snowboarding Grand Prix | NBC |
0.6
|
855
|
| 12 PM | NCAAMB | Marquette/Connecticut | ESPN |
0.7
|
845
|
| 12:58 PM | Golf | Northern Trust Open, Third Rd. | GOLF |
0.5
|
711
|
| 6:16 PM | NCAAMB | Florida/Arkansas | ESPN2 |
0.3
|
390
|
| 8:15 PM | Racing | NHRA Qualifying | ESPN2 |
0.3
|
373
|
| 12 PM | NCAAMB | Wichita/Davidson | ESPN2 |
0.2
|
357
|
| 10:05 PM | NCAAMB | Long Beach St./Creighton | ESPN2 |
0.2
|
216
|
| 2:04 PM | NCAAMB | Akron/Oral Roberts | ESPN2 |
0.1
|
186
|
| 10 PM | NBA | Hawks/Trail Blazers | NBATV |
0.1
|
178
|
| 4:04 PM | NCAAMB | Nevada/Iona | ESPN2 |
0.1
|
136
|
| Sunday, February 19 | |||||
| 3:07 PM | Golf | Northern Trust Open, Final Rd. | CBS |
4.2
|
6,234
|
| 1 PM | NBA | Mavericks/Knicks | ABC |
3.8
|
5,916
|
| 3:30 PM | NBA | Magic/Heat | ABC |
3.4
|
5,496
|
| 1 PM | NASCAR | Daytona 500 Qualifying | FOX |
2.0
|
3,213
|
| 12:30 PM | NHL | Regional action | NBC |
1.3
|
1,939
|
| 8 PM | NBA | Nuggets/Thunder | ESPN |
1.2
|
1,892
|
| 1 PM | NCAAMB | Michigan State/Purdue | CBS |
1.1
|
1,635
|
| 3 PM | NHL | Bruins/Wild | NBC |
0.9
|
1,378
|
| 12:58 PM | Golf | Northern Trust Open, Final Rd. | GOLF |
0.8
|
1,125
|
| 1 PM | NCAAMB | Syracuse/Rutgers | ESPN |
0.7
|
930
|
| 3:04 PM | PBA | Scorpion Open | ESPN |
0.5
|
649
|
| 9:30 AM | Other | The Sports Reporters | ESPN |
0.5
|
640
|
| 7:22 PM | NCAAMB | USF/Pittsburgh | ESPN2 |
0.3
|
388
|
| 6 PM | NHL | Devils/Canadiens | NBCSN |
0.2
|
203
|
| 5:03 PM | NCAAWB | Purdue/Michigan State | ESPN2 |
0.1
|
179
|
| 3 PM | NCAAWB | Duke/Maryland | ESPN2 |
0.1
|
172
|
| 2 PM | Lacrosse | Denver/Ohio State and Jacksonville/Navy | NBCSN |
0.0
|
52
|
| Monday, February 20 | |||||
| 7 PM | Other | ‘Hall of Game Awards’ | TOON |
1.3
|
2,585
|
| 8:16 PM | NBA | Celtics/Mavericks | TNT |
1.0
|
1,525
|
| 10:44 PM | NBA | Trail Blazers/Lakers | TNT |
1.0
|
1,457
|
| 7 PM | NCAAMB | Connecticut/Villanova | ESPN |
0.7
|
1,019
|
| 9:24 PM | NCAAMB | Baylor/Texas | ESPN |
0.7
|
847
|
| Tuesday, February 21 | |||||
| 9:08 PM | NCAAMB | Kentucky/Miss. State | ESPN |
1.4
|
2,118
|
| 7 PM | NCAAMB | Kansas State/Missouri | ESPN2 |
0.6
|
952
|
| 7 PM | NCAAMB | Illinois/Ohio State | ESPN |
0.6
|
940
|
| 7:30 PM | NBA | Fan Night: Kings/Heat | NBATV |
0.4
|
516
|
| Wednesday, February 22 | |||||
| 9:43 PM | NBA | Lakers/Mavericks | ESPN |
1.8
|
2,569
|
| 7 PM | NBA | Celtics/Thunder | ESPN |
1.1
|
1,547
|
| Thursday, February 23 | |||||
| 7 PM | NBA | Knicks/Heat | TNT |
3.2
|
5,092
|
| 9:30 PM | NBA | Lakers/Thunder | TNT |
2.3
|
3,665
|
| Friday, February 24 | |||||
| 9 PM | NBA | Rising Stars Challenge | TNT |
1.7
|
2,729
|
(Numbers from Media Life Magazine; The Voice of TV [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]; Fan Night numbers from Turner Sports via The Futon Critic; Thursday numbers from Bloomberg, Media Life Magazine; Friday numbers from Turner Sports)
