Connor Bedard’s second game scored another historic viewership mark. Plus: a three-year low for a WNBA Finals blowout; declines for NASCAR and F1; and more, including a record for the NWSL.
Bedard’s second game top indoor NHL game on TNT
Wednesday’s Blackhawks-Bruins NHL regular season game, the second in the career of #1 pick Connor Bedard, averaged a 0.49 rating and 896,000 viewers on TNT — the network’s largest NHL regular season audience ever, excluding the Winter Classic. Ratings jumped 36% and viewership 42% from Bruins-Capitals in the same window last year (0.36, 629K).
As previously noted, Bedard’s debut Tuesday night averaged 1.4 million viewers on ESPN — the largest NHL regular season audience ever on cable (again excluding the Winter Classic).
Despite the record lead-in, the Avalanche-Kings nightcap actually declined 28% from last year to 377,000 viewers. Viewership for the full doubleheader was nonetheless up 15% to 660,000.
Aces’ rout is least-watched WNBA Finals Game 2 in three years
Game 2 of the WNBA Finals (Liberty-Aces) averaged a 0.40 rating and 626,000 viewers on ESPN Wednesday night, marking the smallest Game 2 audience in three years — since Aces-Storm on ABC in the 2020 “bubble” (409K). Viewership for the Aces’ blowout win declined 4% from Sun-Aces last year (649K).
The Game 2 performance was a marked reversal from Game 1, which was the most-watched WNBA Finals opener since 2000.
NASCAR, F1, see declines last weekend
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the Charlotte “Roval” averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.28 million viewers on NBC, marking the least-watched Cup Series race at the track — excluding a hastily-added midweek race in May 2020 — since at least 2001. Ratings fell 13% and viewership 5% from last year (1.5, 2.39M).
Airing on the same afternoon, the Formula 1 Qatar Grand Prix averaged a 0.45 and 824,000 on ESPN — down 10% and 3% respectively from the last time the race was held in 2021 (0.50, 850K). Viewership peaked at 1.07 million in the final quarter-hour.
Though NASCAR nearly tripled F1 overall, its margin of victory was negligible in adults 18-34 (161K to 157K) and modest in 18-49 (359K to 336K).
Plus: NWSL, Premier League, NBA preseason
— Last Friday’s Washington-OL Reign NWSL match, which marked Megan Rapinoe’s career finale, averaged a 0.41 rating and 683,000 viewers in primetime on CBS — trailing only last year’s championship on CBS (915K) as the most-watched in league history.
— Peacock averaged 871,000 viewers for last Sunday’s Arsenal-Manchester City English Premier League match, per Adobe Analytics — trailing only Chelsea-Liverpool in August (973K) and Liverpool-Arsenal last April (872K) as the most-streamed Premier League match on record. The match outdrew all of the Premier League windows on linear television last weekend.
— Last Sunday’s Sixers-Celtics NBA preseason game averaged a 0.24 rating and 421,000 viewers on ESPN, down from its preseason opener last year, Heat-Nets on a Thursday night (648K). Nuggets-Suns on TNT averaged 400,000 viewers Tuesday night, down from its year-ago preseason debut (Pistons-Knicks: 466K).
For more sports ratings, see the latest weekly charts. Additional numbers from WBD Sports PR, Programming Insider 10.12, NBC Sports PR, Sports TV Ratings 10.11)
