The WNBA Finals averaged its smallest audience in six years. Also: Zion Williamson’s Pelicans were less of a draw on ESPN (with a caveat), and Devils-Flyers was no match for last year’s Cup Final rematch.
WNBA Finals, playoffs, down double-digits
The five-game Mystics-Sun WNBA Finals averaged 381,000 viewers on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, marking the least-watched Finals since 2013 (Lynx-Dream: 315K). Viewership declined 21% from last year’s Storm-Mystics sweep (481K) and 32% from the last five-game series, Lynx-Sparks in 2017 (559K).
Thursday’s Game 5 averaged a 0.27 rating and 440,000 viewers on ESPN2, the smallest audience for a winner-take-all game since at least 2007 (five total). Viewership fell 51% from the previous Game 5 on ESPN in 2017 (902K) and 17% from the 2016 Game 5, which like this year’s game aired on ESPN2 opposite Thursday Night Football (Lynx-Sparks: 528K).
Tuesday’s Game 4 averaged 312,000 on ESPN2, the least-watched Game 4 since at least 2005. Viewership fell 36% from the previous Game 4 in 2017, which aired on ESPN (491K).
The complete WNBA Playoffs was down 24% to an average of 257,000.
Slight dip, with caveat, for Zion’s Pelicans on ESPN
Wednesday’s Pelicans-Bulls NBA preseason game, marking the second preseason game for Pelicans F Zion Williamson, averaged a 0.65 rating and 1.00 million viewers on ESPN — down a tick in ratings and 3% in viewership from the comparable window last year (Pacers-Bulls: 0.66, 1.03M). Coverage aired opposite an MLB Division Series Game 5, while last year’s game faced no such competition.
The previous night, ESPN drew a 0.48 and 720,000 for Mavericks-Thunder and a 0.43 and 660,000 for Nuggets-Blazers.
Devils-Flyers down from last year’s Cup rematch
Devils-Flyers averaged a 0.26 rating and 428,000 viewers on the latest edition of NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Hockey, down 19% in ratings and 21% in viewership from a Stanley Cup Final rematch last year (Golden Knights-Capitals: 0.32, 543K), and down 10% and 4% respectively from Penguins-Capitals in 2017 (0.29, 448K).
In other action, Wednesday’s Kings-Canucks nightcap had just 173,000; Sharks-Predators drew 217,000 on Tuesday night (-13%); and Wild-Predators drew 238,000 back on October 3 (+23%).
[Numbers from ESPN, Programming Insider 10.10, 10.11; ShowBuzz Daily 10.4, 10.9, 10.10]
