The New Zealand All Blacks’ U.S. exhibition could not quite match the USA Rugby Sevens earlier this year. In other news, ratings and viewership dropped by more than a third for Skate Canada, and the New York Marathon increased on ABC.
All Blacks Exhibition Below USA Rugby Sevens
- Last Saturday’s New Zealand/United States rugby exhibition, the first U.S. appearance for New Zealand’s All Blacks since 1980, drew a 0.6 final rating and 927,000 viewers on NBC. By comparison, the network’s coverage of the USA Rugby Sevens drew 969,000 and 1.2 million viewers in January — albeit without facing college football competition.
Final Skate Canada Numbers Down Big on NBC
- Skate Canada, the second event in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, drew a 0.5 final rating and 624,000 viewers on NBC last Sunday — down 38% in ratings and 45% in viewership from last year (0.8, 1.1M). The 0.5 rating is the lowest for the event since NBC began airing coverage in 2009.
Live N.Y. Marathon Down, But Encore Up
- Encore coverage of the New York Marathon drew a 0.7 final rating and 921,000 viewers on ABC last Sunday, up a tick in ratings and 1% in viewership from last year’s 0.6 and 909,000. Live coverage on ESPN2 earned a 0.2 and 298,000, flat and down 15%, respectively, from last year (0.2, 351K).
(Wknd. numbers from Sports Business Daily)
