Sunday Night Baseball ratings just keep dropping. In other news, the F.A. Cup final was the most-watched since moving to FOX, Indy 500 qualifying hit a multi-year high on ABC, and the WNBA opened on a lower note.
Sunday Night Baseball Ratings Drop For 8th Straight Week
Indians-Astros had a 0.7 rating and 1.14 million viewers on ESPN’s
Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, down a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (Rangers-Tigers: 0.8, 1.21M) and down 42% and 38% respectively from 2016 (Cubs-Giants: 1.2, 1.8M).
All eight Sunday Night Baseball games this season have declined from last year, with all-but-one of those hitting multi-year lows.
Five of eight SNB windows have had less than a 1.0 rating, compared to two at the same point last year and one at the comparable point two years ago.
On Tuesday night, ESPN drew a 0.39 and 580,000 (-4%) for Indians-Astros and a 0.26 and 375,000 (-34%) for Rockies-Dodgers. Rounding out the recent action, last Saturday’s A’s-Blue Jays game had 268,000 on FS1.
F.A. Cup Final is Most-Watched on FOX
Last Saturday’s Chelsea-Manchester United F.A. Cup final earned a 0.7 rating and 1.08 million viewers on FOX, up 24% in ratings and 29% in viewership from last year (Arsenal-Chelsea: 0.55, 836K) and up 10% and 6% respectively from 2016 (Man U-Crystal Palace: 0.6, 1.02M).
Chelsea’s win was the highest rated and most-watched F.A. Cup final since the event moved to FOX in 2013, topping the previous high set by Manchester United’s previous appearance two years ago.
Indy 500 Qualifying Hits High on ABC
Indianapolis 500 qualifying earned a 0.9 rating and 1.33 million viewers on ABC last Sunday, up a tick in the former and 13% in the latter from last year (0.8, 1.18M) and up a tick and 12% respectively from 2016 (0.8, 1.19M). It was the highest rated and most-watched qualifying telecast since 2014 (1.0, 1.5M).
Additional qualifying coverage last Saturday had a 0.7 (+17%) and 1.05 million (+14%).
WNBA Opens on Lower Note
Last Sunday’s Sparks-Lynx WNBA opening weekend game earned 297,000 viewers on ESPN2, down 14% from Storm-Sparks last year (346K) and down 41% from Mercury-Lynx in 2016 (505K), both of which aired on ESPN on Saturday afternoons.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 5.22 a, b]
