Premier League ratings sank on Boxing Day. In other news, NHL Wednesday Night Rivalry declined for a fourth straight week, ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards has retired, and ESPN will debut a new camera angle on the Sugar Bowl.
Premier League Ratings: Boxing Day Games Down
Tuesday’s Premier League Boxing Day tripleheader averaged 337,000 viewers on NBCSN, down 19% from last year (419K). All three matches declined, with Manchester United-Burnley (444K) down 15%, Liverpool-Swansea (402K) down 21% and Tottenham-Southampton (162K) down 26%.
In other action, NBCSN also posted declines for Manchester City-Bournemouth last Saturday (380K, -35%) and Newcastle-Manchester City on Wednesday (287K, -2%). It scored increases for Arsenal-Liverpool on December 22 (411K, +202%) and Crystal Palace-Arsenal on Thursday (283K, +17%).
Over on the NBC broadcast network, last Saturday’s Leicester City-Manchester United English Premier League match had a 0.6 rating and 991,000 viewers — the largest EPL audience of a busy week. Earlier in the day, Burnley-Tottenham had a 0.6 (-25%) and 896,000 (-27%). [ShowBuzz Daily 12.27]
Another Drop For NHL Wednesday on NBCSN
Capitals-Rangers had 340,000 viewers on last week’s edition of NHL
Wednesday Night Rivalry on NBCSN, down 27% from last year (Flyers-Blues: 464K) and down 14% from 2015 (Rangers-Lightning: 394K). The Wednesday night series has now declined double-digits in four straight weeks.
On Thursday, Golden Knights-Kings had 266,000 viewers — the third-largest audience for a West Coast game this season (10 telecasts). Flyers-Sharks on opening night (462K) and Coyotes-Golden Knights on October 10 (332K) hold the top two spots. Bruins-Capitals had 259,000 earlier in the night (+43%). [ShowBuzz Daily 12.28, 12.29]
ESPN’s Edwards Retires
ESPN reporter
Jeannine Edwards has retired from the company. Her final assignment came Friday, when she reported from the Cotton Bowl for
SportsCenter. Edwards joined ESPN in 1995 as a horse racing analyst and also served as a college football and basketball sideline reporter. She most recently was a bureau reporter for ESPN’s news programs. [ESPN Front Row
12.25]
ESPN to Debut First Down Marker Camera
ESPN will debut a new camera angle from inside the first down marker during Monday’s Sugar Bowl, the network announced this week. ESPN says the camera angle, which was tested at the FCS Celebration Bowl earlier this month, is a TV first. [ESPN PR
12.28]
