Rounding up some recent sports TV ratings, including numbers for the NBA, college basketball and more.
Solid recent numbers for NBA
Last Tuesday’s Mavericks-Warriors NBA regular season game averaged 1.81 million viewers on TNT, the league’s largest non-Christmas audience since Lakers-Mavericks on ESPN in mid-December (1.88M). There was no comparable window the past two years.
Golden State’s blowout win comfortably outdrew the Lakers-Nets lead-in, which drew 1.52 million — up 22% from Celtics-Heat two years ago (1.25M).
On Thursday night, Timberwolves-Warriors drew 1.67 million and Lakers-Sixers 1.64 million, up 39% and 49% respectively from the equivalent games last year (Warriors-Suns: 1.20M; Blazers-Rockets: 1.10M) and up 108% and 81% respectively from two years ago (Jazz-Nuggets: 802K; Warriors-Celtics: 904K).
In other action, Lakers-Hornets drew 1.35 million (+19%) and Knicks-Bucks 1.12 million (-5%) on ESPN Friday night; Suns-Jazz drew 1.19 million (+3%) and Knicks-Heat 1.07 million (-40%) on ESPN last Wednesday; Bulls-Bucks drew a 0.7 rating (-6%) and 1.19 million viewers (+2%) on ESPN January 21.
Recent UK-Auburn game ranks second for college hoops season
The January 22 Kentucky-Auburn men’s college basketball game averaged a 1.5 rating and 2.48 million viewers on CBS, marking the second-largest audience of the season on any network. Gonzaga-Duke drew 2.79 million on ESPN the night after Thanksgiving. The Tigers’ win, which led into CBS NFL playoff coverage, trounced the competing Syracuse-Duke matchup on ESPN in the same window (0.7, 1.04M).
Plus: Winter X Games, USMNT, NHL
The recent Winter X Games averaged 622,000 viewers across ESPN and ABC, per Sports Business Journal, up 3% from last year (605K). Viewership topped out at 1.08 million for a Sunday afternoon window on ABC January 23. … Last Thursday’s United States-El Salvador World Cup qualifying match averaged 727,000 viewers on ESPN2, ranking third out of the nine USMNT qualifiers this cycle. Matches against Mexico (1.32M on ESPN2) and Canada (776K on FS1) hold the top two spots. Keep in mind some matches did not air on linear TV. … Last Wednesday’s Blackhawks-Red Wings NHL regular season game averaged 484,000 viewers on TNT, up 25% from both Blackhawks-Predators last year (388K) and Predators-Capitals two years ago (387K), both of which aired on NBCSN. The Bruins-Avalanche nightcap had 383,000, up 113% from two years ago (Lightning-Kings: 180K).
* All of last year’s figures come with the caveat that Nielsen was undercounting out-of-home data; all figures from two years ago come with the caveat that Nielsen did not include out-of-home viewing at all.
