Bruins-Blue Jackets hit a Stanley Cup cable high on Thursday night. Also: Sunday Night Baseball ratings continue to drop; the PGA Tour hit a low at New Orleans; NASCAR’s Xfinity Series took a hit at Talladega.
Bruins-Jackets Game 4 among top ten semifinal games on cable
Thursday’s Bruins-Blue Jackets Stanley Cup semifinal Game 4 earned a 1.2 rating and 1.99 million viewers on NBCSN, up 20% in ratings and 14% in viewership from Capitals-Penguins last year (1.0, 1.75M) and up 71% and 85% respectively from 2017 (Senators-Rangers: 0.7, 1.07M).
The Bruins’ series-tying win ranks as the most-watched game of the postseason on cable, and the ninth-most watched first or second round game ever on NBCSN. Including streaming, it had 2.07 million.
Three of the first four Bruins-Blue Jackets games have posted an increase in ratings and viewership.
Later in the night, Sharks-Avalanche had a 0.8 (+23%) and 1.31 million (+26%). It had 1.36 million with streaming included (+25%).
Sunday Night Baseball down for fifth straight week
Indians-Astros scored a 0.8 rating and 1.23 million viewers on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, down 43% in ratings and 44% in viewership from Yankees-Angels last year (1.4, 2.19M) and down 50% in both measures from Cubs-Red Sox in 2017 (1.6, 2.45M). In the first season of a new, earlier start time, all five Sunday Night Baseball games this season have declined to multi-year lows.
In other action, Astros-Twins scored a 0.38 and 588,000 on ESPN Wednesday night, down 21% in both measures from last year (Yankees-Astros: 0.48, 740K), but up 42% in viewership from 2017 (Blue Jays-Yankees: 413K, rating n/a). ESPN also drew a 0.34 (-11%) and 495,000 (-11%) for A’s-Red Sox on Monday night.
Going back to last Saturday, FS1 drew a 0.22 and 312,000 viewers (+74%) for Indians-Astros. Its Brewers-Mets nightcap pulled just 276,000 (-65%).
PGA Tour low at New Orleans
Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour New Orleans Classic earned a 1.0 rating and 1.46 million viewers on CBS, flat in ratings and down 5% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.54M) and down 9% in both measures from 2017 (1.1, 1.61M). Excluding rainouts, it was the lowest rated final round of the tournament in at least a decade.
Third round action the previous day had a 0.8 (-6%) and 1.19 million (-3%). Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel drew a 0.25 (+4%) and 357,000 (+8%) on Saturday and a 0.29 (-3%) and 421,000 (-1%) on Sunday.
Move to cable sinks NASCAR Xfinity at Talladega
Last weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race from Talladega had a 0.6 rating and 988,000 viewers on FS1, down 50% in ratings and 48% in viewership from last year (1.2, 1.90M) and down 54% and 51% respectively from 2017 (1.3, 2.00M), with the caveat that those races aired on the FOX broadcast network.
The following day, F1 racing from Azerbaijan had a 0.34 (flat) and 539,000 (+1%) on ESPN2, and tape-delayed NHRA eliminations from Charlotte scored a 0.21 (-36%) and 342,000 (-37%) on FS1.
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 5.4; ShowBuzz Daily 4.30]
