Ratings: NCAA Wrestling, Skating, AAF, Soccer

Last Saturday’s NCAA wrestling final had 625,000 viewers on ESPN, down a fraction of a percent from last year (628K), down 15% from 2017 (735K), and the smallest audience since 2012 (554K). Even as viewership hit a seven-year low, the 0.39 rating increased 15% from last year (0.34) and 5% from 2017 (0.37).

Semifinal coverage last Friday had a 0.26 (flat) and 407,000 (-10%).

Coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships delivered a 1.2 rating and 1.84 million viewers on NBC last Saturday night, flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from 2017, the last time NBC carried primetime coverage (1.2, 1.82M). Keep in mind the 2017 telecast aired opposite the NCAA Tournament Final Four, while this year’s window faced only the opening weekend of play.

Last year, NBC aired a Sunday afternoon recap of the competition that earned a 0.6 and 938,000.

TNT drew a 0.22 rating and 340,000 viewers for last Saturday’s Orlando-Atlanta Alliance of American Football League game, down 29% in ratings and 26% in viewership from the network’s previous AAF telecast two weeks earlier (Orlando-Birmingham: 0.31, 457K). In other AAF action, NFL Network drew 255,000 for Birmingham-Memphis Sunday night — up 9% from the previous week (Birmingham-San Diego: 234K).

Tuesday’s Mexico-Paraguay soccer friendly delivered 1.67 million viewers on UniMas and Univision Deportes Network, ranking as the most-watched soccer match this year. A Manchester United-Arsenal English Premier League match combined for 1.68 million on NBC and Telemundo earlier this month, but that figure includes streaming.

Earlier in the night, the United States-Chile friendly earned 713,000 on UniMas and UDN, and 552,000 on ESPN2.