The Raptors scored their largest regular season audience in years; the NHL on NBCSN scored a viewership bump; Kentucky-Seton Hall topped last week’s college hoops numbers.
Raptors Hit U.S. Viewership High
Wednesday’s Raptors-Warriors NBA regular season game earned 2.01 million viewers on ESPN, up a third from last year (Hornets-Rockets: 1.51M) and up 44% from 2016 (Celtics-Spurs: 1.39M). Ratings were not immediately available.
Toronto’s blowout win was the most-watched Raptors regular season game on U.S. television in at least a decade. The previous high was 2.00 million for a November 2016 game between Toronto and Golden State.
Earlier in the night, Thunder-Pelicans had 1.73 million — up 13% from last year (Thunder-Pacers: 1.53M) and up 74% from 2016 (Pacers-Heat: 995K).
Pens-Hawks Up on NBCSN
Penguins-Blackhawks scored 519,000 viewers on the latest edition of NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Hockey, up 13% from last year (Bruins-Red wings: 458K) but down 26% from 2016 (Bruins-Penguins: 705K). Chicago’s win delivered the fourth-largest audience of the season.
In other action, Red Wings-Capitals scored 174,000 Tuesday night — down 40% from last year (Lightning-Blues: 289K) and down 19% from 2016 (Blackhawks-Rangers: 214K).
UK-Seton Hall Thriller Tops Recent College Hoops
Last Saturday’s Kentucky-Seton Hall men’s college basketball game scored a 0.95 rating and 1.51 million viewers on FOX, marking last week’s largest college hoops audience. FOX did not air games on the comparable day of last season.
The network also pulled a 0.9 and 1.43 million for Louisville-Indiana and a 0.8 and 1.20 million for Wisconsin-Marquette.
In other Saturday action, Michigan State-Florida scored a 0.9 (-10%) and 1.28 million (-16%) on CBS, while ESPN drew a 0.75 and 1.13 million for Yale-Duke.
