Overnight ratings slipped for the NFL Pro Bowl and the NBA’s Warriors-Celtics showdown. Also, weekend figures for the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines and the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Pro Bowl Overnights Slip
The NFL Pro Bowl earned a 5.7 overnight rating across ESPN, ABC, and the children’s television network Disney XD Sunday afternoon, down 3% from last year on ESPN and ABC alone (5.9), but up 24% from 2017 on ESPN alone (4.6). The 5.7 is the second-highest for the Pro Bowl since 2014, the last year it aired on NBC (6.7).
According to Sports Business Daily, the Disney XD simulcast accounted for a tenth of the overnight.
The Pro Bowl earned a lower overnight than last year’s MLB All-Star Game on FOX (6.5), but topped last year’s NBA All-Star Game on TNT and TBS (5.1). It also cruised past the previous night’s NHL All-Star Game on NBC (1.3).
Warriors-Celtics Overnights Dip on ABC
Warriors-Celtics scored a 3.2 overnight rating on ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime over the weekend, down a tick from the same matchup last year (3.3), but up a third from 2017 (Clippers-Warriors: 2.4). The 3.2 is the highest non-Christmas overnight of the NBA season.
Compared to Lakers-Rockets in the same Saturday night window the previous week, overnights increased 23% from a 2.6. The game topped a crowded Saturday night, beating Premier Boxing Champions on FOX (1.5) and the NHL All-Star Game on NBC (1.3) — combined.
In other NBA action, Friday’s Raptors-Rockets game scored 1.49 million viewers on ESPN — down 3% from last year (Rockets-Pelicans: 1.54M) and down 4% from 2017 (Rockets-Sixers: 1.54M). Ratings were not immediately available.
PGA Torrey Pines Overnights Down on CBS
Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines delivered a 2.2 overnight rating on CBS, down 24% from last year (2.9), but up a tick from 2017 (2.1). Tiger Woods shot five under par on Sunday to finish in a tie for 20th. He finished in a tie for 23rd last year.
Third round coverage on Saturday had a 1.6 overnight (-30%). Second round coverage on Friday scored 567,000 viewers on Golf Channel (-26%). As previously reported, last Thursday’s opening round had 546,000 (-19%).
U.S. Figure Skating Championship Beats Last Non-Olympic Year
Coverage of the women’s free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships earned 3.06 million viewers on NBC Friday night, down 32% from last year, when the event preceded the Olympics (4.48M), but up 9% from the last non-Olympic year in 2017 (2.81M). The 2017 telecast aired on a Saturday night. Ratings were not immediately available.
[Numbers from Sports Business Daily 1.28 a, b; ShowBuzz Daily 1.28]
