The latest meeting between Serena and Venus Williams gave ESPN’s US Open ratings huge bump in the metered markets. Also, the latest Premier League and motorsports ratings.
Serena-Venus Drives Huge Jump For Friday’s US Open Coverage
Primetime coverage of the US Open earned a 1.5 overnight rating on ESPN Friday night, up 114% from the comparable window on ESPN2 last year (0.7) and the network’s highest overnight on record for the first three rounds of the tournament. The Serena Williams-Venus Williams match had a 1.8, up 157% from the sisters’ previous meeting in a major, a middle-of-the-night Australian Open final in 2017 (0.7), but down 63% from their previous meeting in the US Open — a 2015 quarterfinal during Serena’s quest for the calendar grand slam (4.8).
Entering Friday’s play, ESPN and ESPN2 were averaging 684,000 viewers for US Open coverage (+6%). Wednesday’s primetime coverage, which featured Serena Williams’ second round win over Carina Witthoeft, earned a tournament-high 1.01 million viewers (+27%).
Week 3 EPL Down on NBC
Last Saturday’s Brighton-Liverpool English Premier League match earned a 0.6 rating and 831,000 viewers on NBC, down a tick in ratings and 22% in viewership from last year (Man U-Leicester City: 0.7, 1.07M) and down a tick and 28% respectively from 2016 (Man U-Hull City: 0.7, 1.16M).
On NBCSN, West Ham-Arsenal drew a 0.35 (+46%) and 537,000 (+51%) on Saturday and Chelsea-Newcastle a 0.35 (-19%) and 535,000 (-23%) on Sunday.
NASCAR Xfinity Down, IndyCar and F1 Up, Last Weekend
NASCAR Xfinity Series racing from Road America (Wis.) earned a 0.55 rating and 901,000 viewers on NBCSN last Saturday, down 58% in ratings and 57% in viewership from last year on the NBC broadcast network (1.3, 2.12M) and down 14% and 3% respectively from 2016 on NBCSN (0.64, 970K).
Later in the night, the IndyCar Series from Gateway Motorsports Park (Ill.) had a 0.23 and 391,000 on NBCSN — flat in ratings and up 9% in viewership from last year, when the race returned to the schedule for the first time since 2003 (0.23, 359K).
In other motorsports action, last Sunday’s F1 Belgian Grand Prix had a 0.30 (flat) and 474,000 (+6%) on ESPN2.
