The season’s first clash of the Lakers and Bucks scored an uptick in ratings. Plus: results for UFC 257 and the latest numbers for the NHL, college basketball and more.
Lakers-Bucks scores uptick, if down from their meetings last year
Last Thursday’s Lakers-Bucks NBA regular season game averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.71 million viewers on TNT, up a tick in ratings and 5% in viewership from Lakers-Nets last year (1.0, 1.63M) and up 57% and 60% respectively from 2019 (Sixers-Pacers: 0.7, 1.07M). Since the turn of the new year, viewership has risen for 12 of 20 games on TNT and ESPN that can be compared to last year.
It should be noted that last season’s Lakers-Bucks games were stronger draws. Their December 2019 meeting averaged a 1.7 and 2.78 million on TNT, followed by a 1.6 and 2.43 million for the March 2020 rematch.
Later in the night, Pelicans-Jazz had a 0.8 (-13%) and 1.29 million (-2%).
Over on ESPN, Celtics-Sixers pulled a 0.7 (flat) and 1.17 million (+8%) last Friday and a 0.7 (-13%) and 1.12 million (-2%) two nights earlier. In the respective nightcaps, Nuggets-Suns drew a 0.8 and 1.23 million and Suns-Rockets a 0.6 and 901,000. The latter declined sharply from Spurs-Pelicans last year — Zion Williamson’s first NBA game (1.6, 2.36M).
UFC 257 prelims hit eleven-month high, but trail last McGregor PPV
Saturday’s UFC 257 prelims averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.43 million viewers on ESPN, marking the highest rated and most-watched UFC event on linear television since last February (UFC 249 prelims: 0.9, 1.49M). According to Sports Business Daily, the Dustin Poirier-Conor McGregor main event generated “around 1.2 million” pay-per-view buys on ESPN+ and an additional 400,000 buys internationally, making it one of the best-selling UFC PPV cards.
Compared to UFC 246 prelims last January, which also preceded a McGregor main event, prelims declined 27% in ratings and 19% in viewership from a 1.1 and 1.77 million.
Plus: NHL, college hoops, horse racing, NFL Primetime
Red Wings-Blackhawks averaged a 0.6 rating and 1.00 million viewers on the NHL on NBC last Sunday, down 36% in ratings and 41% in viewership from the network’s season opener the previous week (Capitals-Penguins: 0.9, 1.71M). There was no comparable window last year. … Ohio State-Wisconsin led the weekend college basketball slate with a 1.0 and 1.59 million on CBS, ranking sixth for the season in viewership. Big Ten teams have played in four of the top six. … The Pegasus World Cup horse race averaged a 0.55 and 876,000 on NBC Saturday afternoon, down 30% and 21% respectively from last year (0.8, 1.10M). … ESPN’s NFL Primetime averaged 731,000 viewers Sunday night, down 15% from last year’s Championship Sunday edition (864K).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 1.26, Sports Business Daily 1.25]
