Wimbledon viewership is trending at a three-year high; BIG3 basketball slipped in its second outing on FOX; the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest eked out a slight bump.
Wimbledon Viewership at Three-Year High
Wimbledon has averaged 592,000 viewers through Friday, up 4% from last year (571K), up 16% from 2016 (509K) and the highest average at this point of the tournament since 2015 (636K). The largest audience thus far was 880,000 for coverage on July 4, up 20% from last year’s holiday window (731K).
BIG3 Slips in Second FOX Outing
Coverage of BIG3 basketball earned 909,000 viewers on FOX Friday night, down 1% from the previous week, when the series generated its largest audience ever (921K). Ratings were not immediately available. As was the case the previous week, it was one of the least-watched sporting events ever on primetime broadcast television.
In all three major adult demos — 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 — the BIG3 at best tied the night’s lowest rating on a “Big Four” network.
Hot Dog Contest Up Slightly
Last Wednesday’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest earned 1.141 million viewers on ESPN2, up 3% from last year (1.113M) and the most-watched live airing of the event since 2013 (1.146M). An evening encore on ESPN2 had 152,000.
The event did not air live in 2016. The initial broadcast, which aired on ESPN following Wimbledon coverage, had 1.3 million. Live coverage was relegated to ESPNEWS in 2014, with an encore presentation earning an all-time record 2.8 million on ESPN2 following World Cup coverage.
