The Rugby World Cup final scored the sport’s top U.S. audience in nearly two years. In other news, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating scored big increases last weekend, and the World Gymnastics Championships also posted double-digit gains.
Rugby World Cup Final Tops Million Viewer Mark
- Last Saturday’s New Zealand/Australia Rugby World Cup final drew a 0.6 final rating and 1.0 million viewers on NBC, flat in ratings and up 9% in viewership from a New Zealand/United States exhibition on the comparable date last year (0.6, 927K). The telecast ranks as the most-watched rugby event on U.S. television in nearly two years — since a USA Rugby Sevens telecast had 1.2 million in January 2014. The New Zealand/South Africa semifinal had a 0.5 and 801,000 on NBC the previous week.
Skate Canada Bounces Back From Last Year
- Skate Canada, the second event in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, scored a 0.8 final rating and 1.1 million viewers on NBC last Sunday afternoon — up 60% in ratings and 74% in viewership from last year (0.5, 624K) and flat and down 4%, respectively, from 2013 (1.14M to 1.09M). The telecast easily topped Skate America the previous weekend, which drew a 0.7 and 944,000 on a Saturday afternoon.
NBC Sees Bump For World Gymnastics Championships
- NBC drew a 0.8 final rating and nearly 1.2 million viewers for taped coverage of the World Gymnastics Championships last Sunday, up a tick in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year (0.7, 1.0M). The previous day, it scored a 0.7 and 1.1 million for additional coverage — up 40% and 37%, respectively, from last year (0.5, 806K).
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily [1], [2]; Awful Announcing)
