Sunday Night Baseball scored its first ratings increase of the season last weekend. Also: PGA Tour Quail Hollow ratings neared a multi-year low; a NASCAR rainout attracted a small Monday afternoon audience.
Cards-Cubs posts first Sunday night increase of season
Cardinals-Cubs scored a 1.1 rating and 1.81 million viewers on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball last weekend, up 22% in ratings and 27% in viewership from the same matchup last year (0.9, 1.42M), but down 27% and 25% from Yankees-Cubs in 2017 (1.5, 2.43M).
The Cubs’ blowout win was the first Sunday Night Baseball game this season to post an increase over last year, snapping a streak of five straight declines. It also ranks as the second-most watched game of the season, behind Braves-Phillies on the first weekend of the season (1.1, 1.87M).
Earlier in the day, ESPN drew a 0.31 (+29%) and 497,000 (+39%) for Astros-Dodgers from Mexico. The previous day, FS1 drew a 0.38 (+65%) and 581,000 (+72%) for Cardinals-Cubs and a 0.24 and 399,000 (+55%) for A’s-Pirates.
Shifting to the workweek, ESPN drew a 0.34 and 504,000 (+38%) for Cardinals-Phillies on Monday night, and a 0.32 (-54%) and 471,000 (-55%) for Mariners-Yankees on Wednesday.
PGA nears low at Quail Hollow
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour at Quail Hollow earned a 1.6 rating and 2.46 million viewers on CBS last Sunday, down 16% in ratings and 15% in viewership from last year, when Tiger Woods played the event for the first time since 2012 (1.9, 2.90M), but up 14% and 16% respectively from 2017 (1.4, 2.13M).
The 1.6 rating is tied as the second-lowest for final round coverage since the tournament started in 2003. Keep in mind the telecast did experience rain delays.
Rainout coverage the previous day had a 0.8 and 1.12 million. Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel had a 0.5 (-14%) and 759,000 (-15%) on Sunday.
Fewer than 800K for NASCAR rainout at Dover
Monday’s rescheduled NASCAR Cup Series race from Dover (Del.) earned 798,000 viewers on FS1. Rainout coverage the previous day had a 1.0 rating and 1.54 million viewers. Last year’s race, which was run as scheduled, had a 1.7 and 2.77 million.
In other racing action last weekend, the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Dover had a 0.51 (-6%) and 777,000 viewers (-1%) on FS1. The same network drew a 0.30 (-49%) and 475,000 (-50%) for tape-delayed NHRA from Atlanta last Sunday evening.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 5.7]
