NASCAR iRacing bounced back in the ratings. Also: the 2013 NBA Finals topped last week’s sports encores; marquee programming helped ESPN score in key demos last weekend.
NASCAR iRacing bounces back to near-high
Last Sunday’s NASCAR iRacing simulation of Talladega averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.24 million viewers across FOX and FS1, marking the second-most watched event in the first-year iRacing series (five telecasts). Only the March 29 simulation of Texas had a larger audience (1.35M). Ratings increased a third and viewership 28% from the previous week’s simulation (0.6, 971K).
NASCAR iRacing now accounts for the five largest esports audiences on record. The series is averaging 1.14 million viewers.
In other action, last weekend’s IndyCar iRacing event on NBCSN averaged 169,000.
’13 NBA Finals tops weekend encores
Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals (Spurs-Heat) led all sports encores last weekend with a 0.53 rating and 772,000 viewers on ABC, followed close behind by a competing rebroadcast of Super Bowl 31 on FOX (Packers-Patriots: 0.52, 765K). Rounding out the top five were Game 6 of the 2006 NBA Finals on ABC (Heat-Mavericks: 0.51, 737K), a 2006 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Zab Judah on ESPN (0.45, 678K) and a figure skating telecast on NBC (0.45, 661K).
Draft, “Last Dance,” give ESPN good run in A18-49
Between the NFL Draft and “The Last Dance,” ESPN/ABC aired television’s five most-watched programs in the key adults 18-49 demographic from April 23-26.* ESPN’s round one draft coverage took the top spot in the demo (4.18M), followed “The Last Dance” episode three (2.94M) and episode four (2.72M), ESPN’s night two draft coverage (1.96M) and ABC’s round one coverage (1.86M).
ESPN/ABC also accounted for the top ten programs in men 18-34 and the top two in women 25-54.
* Includes both ESPN and ABC’s separate telecasts of the NFL Draft opening round.
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 4.28 a, b; Fox Sports PR; ESPN PR 5.1]
