Rounding up recent sports ratings, including a strong start to the calendar year for the NBA and NHL, numbers for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and more.
NBA viewership off to hot start in ’22
Eight of the first ten NBA games on ESPN and TNT in 2022 have increased from last year, including seven by double-digits — Warriors-Mavericks on ESPN January 5 (1.69M, +78%), Nets-Bulls on ESPN Wednesday (1.56M, +58%), the Bucks’ rout of the Warriors on TNT Thursday (1.41M, +34%), the Bucks’ rout of the Nets on ESPN January 7 (1.50M, +28%), Clippers-Suns on TNT January 6 (1.16M, +17%), the Knicks’ buzzer-beating win over the Celtics earlier that night (1.28M, +13%) and Hawks-Lakers on ESPN January 7 — the most-watched game of the calendar year so far (1.77M, +11%).
Only three games have not posted a double-digit increase — Mavericks-Knicks on ESPN Wednesday night (1.20M, +1%) and the Nuggets’ two national games against Portland on TNT this past Thursday (918K, -38%) and Utah on ESPN January 5 (-13%).
It is worth noting that eight of the ten have also posted increases over the comparable games two years ago, the lone exceptions being Clippers-Suns (-26%) and Hawks-Lakers (-1%). The Warriors-Mavericks, Celtics-Knicks, Bucks-Nets, Nets-Bulls and Warriors-Bucks games each increased double-digits over both years.
The good times have also extended to NBA TV, which last Sunday averaged its largest regular season audience in six years — 844,000 viewers — for Warriors G Klay Thompson‘s return from a two-year injury absence. The network also drew 746,000 for Warriors-Grizzlies on Tuesday.
NHL viewership picking up as games return to ESPN
Thursday’s Flyers-Bruins NHL regular season game averaged 684,000 viewers on ESPN, trailing only the Winter Classic (Blues-Wild: 1.36M) and “Thanksgiving Showdown” (Rangers-Bruins: 1.23M) as the most-watched game since opening week. Viewership jumped 214% from Lightning-Wild in a similar window on NBCSN two years ago (218K).
ESPN also drew 658,000 for Wild-Bruins the previous Thursday, up 345% from Predators-Blackhawks on NBCSN two years ago.
Over on TNT, Canadiens-Bruins drew 434,000 (+7% from two years ago) and Maple Leafs-Coyotes just 142,000 this past Wednesday night. The previous Wednesday’s Blues-Penguins game was much stronger at 626,000 (+55%).
Women’s final at U.S. skating championships down big from last Olympic year
The women’s free skate of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.39 million viewers on NBC January 7, flat in ratings and up 11% in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.15M) but down 48% and 47% respectively from the previous Winter Olympic year in 2018.
The previous night’s short program averaged a 0.29 and 468,000 on USA Network.
The men’s short program turned in a 0.9 (+54%) and 1.43 million (+51%) on last Saturday and the men’s free skate a 0.7 (+32%) and 1.13 million (+41%) last Sunday.
Plus: PTI, RedZone, PGA Tour
ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption averaged 1.06 million viewers on Monday, the day of college football’s national championship, the largest audience for the show in four years — since the day after the 2018 national championship (1.10M). Around the Horn chipped in 670,000 earlier in the day, that show’s largest audience since November 2019. … Viewership for NFL RedZone increased 18% from last year, NFL executive VP Hans Schroeder told Sports Business Journal this week, though exact figures were not disclosed. … Last week’s PGA Tour Tournament of Champions averaged 560,000 viewers across NBC and Golf Channel, up 17% from last year and the highest in five years, including an average of 866,000 for the final round on both networks.
