Despite ending with a decline, the Breeders Cup Challenge series had a big increase over last year. In other news, viewership increased slightly to a 16-year high for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, and NBCSN had a modest decline on the second night of the NHL season.
Breeders Cup Challenge Ends With Decline, But Series Up Big
- NBC’s coverage of the Breeders Cup Challenge from Keeneland (KY) drew 982,000 viewers on Saturday and 715,000 on Sunday, with the latter telecast down 19% from last year (886K). The complete Breeders Cup Challenge series, which included two races run by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, averaged 936,000 viewers across NBC and NBCSN — up 136% from last year (397K). (via Sports Business Daily, NBC Sports Group Press Box)
WNBA Finals Opener Most-Watched Since 1998
- Game 1 of the Fever/Lynx WNBA Finals had 571,000 viewers on ABC last Sunday afternoon, up 2% in viewership from Sky/Mercury last year (558K*), up 46% from Dream/Lynx on ESPN in 2013 (391K), and the largest Game 1 audience since 1998. The game, which had a 0.4 final rating, also ranks as the most-watched WNBA Finals game on ABC since Sun/Monarchs Game 3 in 2005 (895K) — with the caveat that the network aired only two games in the interim. (ESPN Media Zone)
NHL Drops on NBCSN Thursday
- The Wild/Avalanche NHL regular season game drew 268,000 viewers on NBCSN Thursday night, down 7% from the same matchup last year (287K) and down 17% from Kings/Wild in 2013 (322K). The telecast ranks as the least-watched on the second night of the season since the lockout campaign of 2013, when Blackhawks/Coyotes had 260,000. (via ShowBuzz Daily)
* According to ESPN, last year’s WNBA Finals opener had 558,000 viewers. Reports at the time, however, were that the game drew 627,000.
