Viewership for Indy 500 qualifying increased over last year’s rainouts. In other news, the Cubs and Giants posted big gains on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, and Fox Sports 1 neared a season-high for its own edition of Monday night baseball.
Indy 500 Qualifying Up From Last Year’s Washout
- Qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 had a 0.8 final rating and 1.2 million viewers on ABC last Sunday afternoon, flat in ratings and up 6% in viewership from rainout coverage last year (0.8, 1.1M) and down 20% in both measures from 2014 (1.0, 1.5M). The previous day, additional coverage had a 0.7 and 956,000 — up 40% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year’s washout (0.5, 791K) and flat and down 9%, respectively, from 2014 (0.7, 1.1M). (via Sports Business Daily)
Cubs/Giants Up Big on ESPN
- Cubs/Giants had a 1.2 final rating and 1.8 million viewers on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, up a third in ratings and viewership from Rangers/Yankees last year (0.9, 1.4M), but down 16% in the latter from Tigers/Red Sox in 2014 (2.2M). In other action, Cubs/Cardinals scored 746,000 on Tuesday night — up 3% from Nationals/Cubs last year (721K) — and Padres/Giants had 384,000 (-47%). (via Programming Insider/ShowBuzz Daily)
FS1 Nears Season-High For Monday Night MLB
- With ESPN taking the night off for the NBA, Fox Sports 1 scored 546,000 viewers for Angels/Rangers on Monday night — the network’s third-largest audience of the season (14 telecasts). Tigers/Royals in April holds the top spot (758K) and Nationals/Cubs earlier this month ranks second (663K). FS1 also scored 469,000 for Cardinals/Diamondbacks last Saturday, up 1% from Brewers/Braves last year (465K). (via Sports TV Ratings [1], [2])
