ESPN’s UFC ratings scored another big jump over last year on FS1. Also: Capitals-Rangers hit an indoor season-high, the NFL Combine had a quiet broadcast TV debut, and the Alliance of American Football slipped in week four.
Another big increase for UFC on ESPN
Last Saturday’s UFC 235 prelims delivered a 0.9 rating and 1.48 million viewers on ESPN, up 63% in ratings and 64% in viewership from UFC 222 prelims on FS1 on the same weekend last year (0.5, 905K). It was the most-watched UFC pay-per-view prelims since December 2016 (1.51M).
Including coverage on ESPN Deportes, the telecast had 1.55 million.
Caps-Rangers hits indoor season-high
Capitals-Rangers scored a 0.9 rating and 1.33 million viewers on the NHL on NBC last Sunday, marking the largest audience for an indoor game this season. There was no comparable window last year. NBC is now averaging 1.42 million viewers for NHL coverage this season (including streaming), up 10% from last year (1.34M).
Shifting to cable, Predators-Wild scored a 0.26 (+24%) and 449,000 (+28%) on NBCSN Sunday night, and a rematch between the same teams earned a 0.18 and 310,000 (+28%) on NBCSN Tuesday night.
Shifting to Wednesday Night Hockey, Capitals-Flyers drew a 0.24 and 373,000 — down 37% in ratings and 43% in viewership from last year (Penguins-Flyers: 0.38, 652K), and also down 4% in viewership from 2017 (Red Wings-Bruins: 388K). The Blues-Ducks nightcap had 204,000.
Fewer than 800K for ABC’s NFL Combine debut
In the first NFL Combine telecast ever on broadcast television, ABC earned a 0.55 rating and 790,000 viewers for coverage of the quarterback and wide receiver drills last Sunday. The telecast was outdrawn head-to-head by NBC’s American Cup Gymnastics coverage (0.8, 1.12M), to say nothing of the competing college basketball games.
Over on NFL Network, Saturday coverage pulled a 0.26 and 363,000 — up 8% in ratings but down 7% in viewership from last year (0.24, 389K) and flat and down 11% respectively from 2017 (0.26, 406K). NFL Network also scored 273,000 viewers on Sunday (-10%), 147,000 last Friday (-29%), and 125,000 for the final day of drills on Monday.
AAF dips in week four
Sunday’s Atlanta-Arizona Alliance of American Football League game drew a 0.27 rating and 450,000 viewers on NFL Network, down 13% in ratings and viewership from the previous week (San Antonio-San Diego: 0.31, 515K). The previous day, Orlando-Salt Lake had a 0.24 and 409,000 — down 17% in both measures from the week before (Memphis-Orlando: 0.29, 491K).
