A near upset of the #1 team in the country gave ESPNU a big boost Tuesday night. In other news, viewership dipped for the NHL on NBCSN Tuesday, and Spike TV saw much healthier numbers for its latest Premier Boxing Champions card.
MSU’s Close Call Lifts ESPNU
- Tuesday’s Michigan State/Oakland college basketball game drew 657,000 viewers on ESPNU, up 261% from CS-Northridge/Louisville last year (182K) and easily the network’s largest audience of the season. The previous high was 496,000 for Yale/Duke in November. In the past three seasons, only four games on ESPNU have attracted more viewers — Georgia/Kentucky in February (660K), Clemson/Syracuse in February 2014 (675K), Duke/Boston College in February 2013 (661K) and Syracuse/Villanova in January the same year (728K).
Slight Dip For Canadiens/Wild on NBCSN
- The Canadiens/Wild NHL regular season game scored 234,000 viewers on NBCSN Tuesday night, down 1% from Blues/Avalanche last year (237K) but up 41% from Capitals/Flyers in 2013 (166K). Kings/Sharks had 262,000 in the late window; there were no comparable games last year or in 2013.
Spike Posts Gains For PBC
- The most recent Premier Boxing Champions telecast earned 538,000 viewers on Spike TV December 18, up 16% from the network’s previous edition in November (466K) and up 71% from its October telecast (315K). Of the nine PBC cards on Spike this year, it ranks sixth.
