The NHL conference finals got off to a good start; last weekend’s UEFA Champions League final set viewership records on English and Spanish-language TV; the Women’s College World Series opened at a 14-year high; and more.
NHL conference final viewership at highs thus far
Coverage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.00 million viewers through Wednesday, up 23% from last year (48% excluding last year’s broadcast network games). Wednesday’s Lightning-Rangers Eastern Conference Final Game 1 averaged a 1.2 and 2.36 million on ESPN, the largest audience for a third round opener since Senators-Penguins on NBC following the Preakness Stakes in 2017 (2.89M).
Figures for Friday’s Game 2 were not immediately available.
Shifting to the Western Conference, Game 1 of Oilers-Avalanche averaged a 0.9 and 1.82 million on TNT Tuesday — the largest audience for a Western Conference Final opener since Blues-Sharks on NBC in ’19 (2.09M). Thursday’s Game 2 drew a 0.75 and 1.47 million, the highest for a Game 2 of the West Final since 2015 (Blackhawks-Ducks: 1.67M).
UEFA Champions League Final sets English, Spanish-language records
Last weekend’s Real Madrid-Liverpool UEFA Champions League Final averaged a 1.1 rating and 2.76 million viewers on CBS, up a tick in ratings and 23% in viewership from last year and the largest audience ever for the event on English-language U.S. television. The match averaged an additional 2.6 million on Univision and TUDN, a record for Spanish-language coverage of the event.
The combined audience of 5.4 million is the highest yet for the UEFA final.
WCWS opens with 14-year high
Thursday’s opening day of the Women’s College World Series averaged 813,000 viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for the first day of the event since 2008. Both Oregon State-Florida and Northwestern-Oklahoma averaged 901,000 viewers.
Going back to the super regionals last weekend, Texas-Arkansas led the way with a 0.53 rating and 1.02 million — the largest audience ever for a regional or super regional match on ESPN.
Plus: Nadal-Djokovic, MLB, PGA Tour, WNBA
Tuesday’s Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic French Open men’s quarterfinal averaged 666,000 viewers on Tennis Channel, more-than-doubling Stefanos Tsitsipas-Daniil Medvedev in the same window last year (307K*). … Last weekend’s season premiere of MLB on FOX averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.96 million viewers, on par with last year (1.1, 1.93M*). Airing on ESPN2 due to the NBA conference finals, Sunday Night Baseball (Phillies-Mets) drew a 0.53 and 994,000. In other MLB action, Guardians-Tigers drew a 0.19 and 334,000 on FS1 and Angels-Yankees scored a TBS season-high 302,000 this past Tuesday. … Final round coverage of the PGA Tour at Colonial drew a 1.5 and 2.43 million on CBS last Sunday, preceded by a 1.0 and 1.70 million the previous day, both the lowest in three years. … Despite a blowout score and Noon ET start, last Sunday’s Mercury-Dream WNBA game averaged a 0.35 and 574,000 on CBS, the most-watched of the network’s four all-time WNBA games (pending revisions for last year’s games). Aces-Sky drew a 0.34 and 524,000 on ABC the previous day.
[Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, ShowBuzz Daily 6.1, league and network PR]
