WNBA All-Star Game ratings sank by nearly a third; IndyCar was a mixed bag at Mid-Ohio; ESPN F1 viewership continues to trend up.
Ratings sink for WNBA All-Star Game
Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game averaged a 0.35 rating and 508,000 viewers on ABC, down 30% in ratings and 28% in viewership from last year (0.50, 709K) and down 20% and 16% respectively from 2017 (0.44, 606K).
The event earned its third-smallest audience ever, ahead of only 2014 (475K) and 2006 (501K), both of which aired on ESPN. The previous low for the All-Star Game on broadcast television was 606,000 in 2017.
The sharp decline runs counter to the trend of rising viewership for WNBA games this season. Fueled by an increased number of games on ABC and ESPN, viewership was up 31 percent entering All-Star weekend.
The new WNBA All-Star Friday Night festivities averaged 208,000 viewers on ESPN.
IndyCar hits high and low at Mid-Ohio
Sunday’s IndyCar Series race from Mid-Ohio averaged a 0.47 rating and 670,000 viewers on the NBC broadcast network, up 21% in ratings and 4% in viewership from tape-delayed coverage on NBCSN last year (0.39, 644K). Figures for last year’s live telecast, which aired on CNBC, were not immediately available.
The race earned its largest audience on a single network since 2016, when coverage earned 811,000 on NBCSN. At the same time, it also generated the smallest IndyCar audience on broadcast television in seven years — since the same Mid-Ohio race on ABC in 2012 (626K).
IndyCar was trounced head-to-head by the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono, which had a 1.7 and 2.71 million on NBCSN. By contrast, last year’s race benefited from a NASCAR lead-in. Of the four racing series taking place Sunday, IndyCar ranked last in viewership, just a fraction behind the competing NHRA eliminations on FOX (671K)
ESPN F1 viewership up double-digits
Through 11 telecasts, Formula 1 races have averaged 679,000 viewers on the ESPN family of networks — up 19% from last year (571K) and up 21% from 2017 on the NBC family of networks (561K). Eight of the 11 races have increased thus far.
Sunday’s Formula 1 German Grand Prix scored a 0.47 rating (+34%) and 688,000 viewers (+27%) on ESPN. The race, which peaked with 839,000 from 10:45-11 PM ET, delivered its the largest cable audience on record.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 7.30, ESPN]
