Major League Baseball’s return to Cuba was a relatively big draw for ESPN. In other news, viewership is on the rise for the Women’s NCAA Tournament, and the NCAA Wrestling Championships had a modest decline.
MLB Cuba Game Hits 12-Year High on ESPN
- ESPN scored a 0.6 final rating and 863,000 viewers for Tuesday’s Major League Baseball exhibition between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team, the largest audience for a preseason MLB telecast since 2004. Viewership peaked at 1.2 million during President Barack Obama‘s interview with ESPN from 3-3:15 PM ET. Coverage on ESPN Deportes chipped in an additional 59,000 viewers, 97% higher than what regular season games averaged on the network last year. (ESPN Media Zone)
Women’s NCAA Viewership Up Big Through Two Rounds
- Through the first two rounds, coverage of the Women’s NCAA Tournament has averaged 343,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2 — up 46% from last year (235K) and the highest average since 2013 (398K). The top telecast thus far was Monday’s late window, which had 784,000 on ESPN2 and topped competing NIT action on ESPN by 21% (646K). (ESPN Media Zone, ShowBuzz Daily)
NCAA Wrestling Championship Down
- Coverage of the NCAA Wrestling Championships earned 655,000 viewers on ESPN, down 6% from last year (694K) but up 4% from 2014 (630K). The 0.4 final rating was even with the past two years. Keep in mind the telecast faced not just the NCAA Tournament but also the Warriors/Spurs NBA game. Semifinal coverage last Friday night drew 463,000, up 3% from last year (451K) and down 8% from ’14 (504K). (via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2])
