The MAAC Championship was the exception to a slow start for college basketball’s Championship Week. In other news, ESPN’s NBA Friday was a mixed draw last week, and Peyton Manning‘s retirement did well for ESPN.
MAAC Up, WCC and Horizon Down, on ESPN
- Tuesday’s Gonzaga/St. Mary’s WCC Tournament final drew 980,000 viewers on ESPN, down 32% from last year (1.4M) and down 6% from 2014 (1.0M), which pitted Gonzaga against BYU. Earlier, the Green Bay/Wright State Horizon League final had 604,000 — down 23% from Green Bay/Valparaiso last year (780K) and down 11% from Milwaukee/Wright State in ’14 (679K). Monday, Iona/Monmouth had 692,000 in the MAAC championship — up 87% from last year (370K) and 153% from 2014 (274K), a pair of Iona/Manhattan matchups on ESPN2. Later, the Gonzaga/Pepperdine WCC semi had 567,000 (-40%).
NBA Friday Mixed on ESPN
- ESPN drew a 1.0 final rating and 1.5 million viewers for Friday’s Wizards/Cavaliers NBA regular season game, up 67% in ratings and 80% in viewership from Suns/Nets last year (0.6, 837K) and up 43% and 39%, respectively, from Grizzlies/Bulls in 2014 (1.1M). The Hawks/Lakers nightcap scored a 0.7 and 1.1 million — down 22% in ratings and 11% in viewership from Mavericks/Warriors last year (0.9, 1.3M) and down 36% in both measures from Pacers/Rockets in ’14 (1.1, 1.8M)
Over 750K For Manning Announcement on ESPN
- ESPN averaged 753,000 viewers from Noon to 3:30 PM ET on Monday, which encompassed Broncos QB Peyton Manning‘s retirement announcement, up 145% from the same time period a week earlier (307K). In particular, the post-announcement edition of NFL Insiders drew 815,000. By comparison, NFL Network averaged 171,000 for coverage during a similar window (12-3 PM).
(Numbers via Sports TV Ratings [1], [2], ShowBuzz Daily)
