The Warriors-Thunder rivalry delivered another good number Monday night. In other news, the U.S. had a mixed weekend on the field and in the ratings at the World Baseball Classic, and the NCAA wrestling championship hit a four-year high on ESPN.
Warriors-Thunder Delivers Another Top Ten Audience on Cable
- Warriors-Thunder scored 2.6 million viewers on the NBA on TNT Monday night, the ninth-largest NBA audience on cable this season. Warriors-Thunder games make up a full third of the top nine, with their January meeting ranking seventh (2.6M) and their November matchup second (3.8M). Their February meeting on ABC ranks second for the season regardless of network with 6.0 million. The Warriors and/or rival Cavaliers have played in 21 of the 22 most-watched games on cable and 30 of the top 34 overall. In other action Monday, Knicks-Clippers had 1.3 million. There were no comparable windows last year.
Mixed Results For U.S. World Baseball Classic Games
- The United States’ sixth match of the World Baseball Classic, a win over the Dominican Republic, scored a 0.5 final rating and 852,000 viewers on MLB Network Saturday night — up a tick in ratings and 30% in viewership from the sixth U.S. game in 2013 against Puerto Rico (0.4, 655K). One night earlier, the team’s loss to Puerto Rico posted a 0.4 and 682,000, down a third and 23% respectively from their fifth match in 2013 against the Dominican Republic (0.6, 883K).
NCAA Wrestling Final Hits Four-Year High
- The final day of the NCAA wrestling championships earned 735,000 viewers on ESPN Saturday night, up 12% from last year (655K), up 6% from 2015 (694K) and the largest audience for the event since 2013 (860K). The 0.4 final rating was even with the past two years. Semifinal coverage on Friday pulled a 0.3 (flat) and 443,000 (-4%). As previously noted, Thursday’s coverage posted a 153% increase thanks to a move from ESPNU to ESPNU.
(Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 3.21a, 3.21b, Programming Insider 3.20)
