Top 10 ranked Houston delivered double-digit gains for ESPN Thursday night. In other news, the Cubs scored their highest local RSN rating in a dozen years, and the latest USWNT friendly improved over last year.
Houston/Cincy Up Double-Digits on ESPN
- Thursday’s Houston/Cincinnati college football game drew 2.2 million viewers on ESPN, up 11% from Clemson/Louisville last year (1.9M) and up 106% from Houston/BYU in 2014 (1.0M). Outside of opening night, only one Thursday game all of last season posted a larger audience — Auburn/Kentucky in week seven (2.23M to 2.16M). (Numbers via Sports TV Ratings 9/16)
Cubs Score Highest Rating Ever on Chicago RSN
- Comcast SportsNet Chicago scored an 11.19 rating for Thursday’s Cubs/Brewers Major League Baseball game, the best ever for the Cubs on a Chicago RSN. The previous high was an 8.49 for Cubs/Astros on CSN predecessor Fox Sports Net Chicago in 2004. The 11.19 is also the highest for any regular season telecast, in any sport, in CSN Chicago history. The previous mark was an 8.73 for a 2012 Bulls/Pacers NBA game. (NBC Sports Group Press Box 9/16)
Latest USWNT Friendly Up From Last Year
- The United States/Thailand women’s soccer friendly earned 266,000 viewers on ESPN2 Thursday night, up 29% from USA/Haiti on the comparable night last year, which aired on Fox Sports 1 (207K). Of the seven USWNT friendlies this year, it was the least-watched by a hair — trailing their match against Ireland in January (268K). (via Sports TV Ratings 9/16)
