NFL Network had slight declines in viewership for NFL preseason games over the weekend. In other news, ESPN had a big increase for Sunday Night Baseball and Fox Sports 1 and TBS saw big gains for their MLB telecasts.
Slight Decline For Weekend Preseason Games on NFL Network
- Friday’s Seahawks/Chiefs NFL preseason game drew just over 1.6 million viewers on NFL Network, down 3% from Eagles/Patriots last year (1.64M to 1.60M). It had a 24.5 rating on Seattle FOX affiliate KCPQ, which was not factored into the national audience. The network scored nearly 1.6 million for Ravens/Eagles the following night, down 4% from Ravens/Cowboys last year (1.63M to 1.57M) but up a third from Jaguars/Jets in 2013 (1.2M). The Chargers/Cardinals nightcap had 988,000; there was no comparable window last year.
Sunday Night Baseball Up Big; Monday Game Low on ESPN2
- The Giants/Pirates Sunday Night Baseball game drew 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, up 38% from A’s/Braves last year (1.4M) but down 39% from Yankees/Red Sox in 2013 (3.1M). The following night, the Cardinals/Diamondbacks Monday Night Baseball game drew 374,000 on ESPN2 — the second-smallest Monday audience of the season. The only such game with fewer viewers was White Sox/Twins in June, also on ESPN2 (357K).
Big Gains For Rangers/Tigers on FS1, Dodgers/Astros on TBS
- Saturday’s Rangers/Tigers Major League Baseball game drew 591,000 viewers on Fox Sports 1, up 41% from Padres/Cardinals in the same window last year (419K). Viewership for Giants/Pirates earlier in the day was not immediately available. Over on TBS, Sunday’s Dodgers/Astros game had 457,000 viewers — up 79% from Mariners/Tigers last year.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], [3], with additional info from Seattle Times, TV By the Numbers)
