F1 ratings continue to rise in NBC’s lame duck year. In other news, Wizards-Lakers topped a quiet week two of the NBA season, the NHL brought mixed results on NBCSN, and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series hit a low on broadcast television.
F1 Ratings: USGP Hits High in Final Year on NBC
Last Sunday’s Formula 1 United States Grand Prix had a 0.65 rating and 1.05 million viewers on the NBC broadcast network, up a third in ratings and 45% in viewership from last year (0.49, 727K) and up 12% and 18% respectively from 2015 (0.58, 889K). Including streaming viewership, it had 1.07 million — the largest audience ever for the race, according to NBC Sports. Of the 16 races this season that can be compared to last year, 13 have posted an increase.
Wizards-Lakers Tops Week 2 NBA
Wizards-Lakers scored 1.8 million viewers on the latest edition of ESPN’s NBA Wednesday, the largest NBA audience of the week. Spurs-Heat had 1.3 million earlier in the night, and TNT’s Celtics-Bucks and Pelicans-Kings games had 1.4 and 1.1 million respectively on Thursday. The comparable week last year was the opening week of the season.
In other NBA action, Wednesday’s Cavaliers-Nets game scored a 1.26 rating on YES Network in New York, the network’s highest Nets rating in the market since December 2014 (Cavaliers-Nets: 1.59).
Mixed Results For NHL on NBCSN Last Week
Sabres-Blue Jackets drew just 186,000 viewers on NBCSN’s NHL Wednesday Night Rivalry last week, down 54% from Bruins-Rangers last year (407K) and down 60% from Penguins-Capitals in 2015 (462K). The previous night, Red Wings-Sabres had 239,000 — up 84% from Sabres-Flyers last year (130K) and up 53% from Lightning-Blues in ’15 (156K).
NASCAR Xfinity Series Hits Broadcast Net Low
NASCAR Xfinity Series racing from Kansas drew a 0.8 rating and 1.1 million viewers on the NBC broadcast network last weekend, down 20% in ratings and 24% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.4M), but up a tick and 13% respectively from 2015 on NBCSN (0.7, 971K). It was the lowest rated and least-watched Xfinity Series race on broadcast TV since at least 2008.
