Ratings roundup — Ryder Cup viewership took a big hit last weekend; NASCAR hit a low at Talladega; WNBA playoff viewership is off last year’s pace; and more.
Ryder Cup down big from previous European edition
Coverage of the Ryder Cup averaged a 0.6 rating and 906,000 viewers across NBC (0.8, 1.21M) and USA Network (0.30, 488K) last weekend, including a final day average of 0.8 and 1.32 million on NBC — the lowest rated and least-watched Sunday of the event since at least 1997 and down 51% and 47% respectively from the last time it was contested in Europe five years ago.
Ratings and viewership topped out at a 0.9 and 1.41 million for NBC’s main window last Saturday, down 40% and 33% respectively from 2018.
NASCAR hits Talladega low
NASCAR Cup Series playoff racing from Talladega (Ala.) averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.51 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, down 14% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.83M) and the least-watched Cup Series race at the track since at least 2000 (excludes rainouts). Since the beginning of August, all-but-one Cup Series race has posted a decline in ratings and viewership.
WNBA Playoffs off last year’s pace
The WNBA Playoffs is averaging 400,000 viewers across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 entering the finals, down 8% from last year (439K). The semifinals averaged 427,000 viewers across seven telecasts, down 13% from last year’s nine-game average of 488,000. Five games this postseason have aired opposite the NFL, compared to just one at the same point last year, when the postseason began in late August.
Last Sunday’s Liberty-Sun semifinal Game 4 ranks as the highest rated and most-watched game of the playoffs with a 0.33 and 579,000 on ABC, the most-watched WNBA game on an NFL Sunday since 2016, but down 38% in ratings and 36% in viewership from ABC’s semifinal game last year — Aces-Storm Game 3 (0.5, 905K). Last year’s game did not face the NFL.
Plus: NHL preseason, PBR Tour
- Thursday’s Bruins-Rangers NHL preseason game averaged 305,000 viewers on TNT, followed by Avalanche-Golden Knights at 190,000 — up 14% and 36% respectively from TNT’s preseason doubleheader last year (Bruins-Rangers: 268K; Stars-Avalanche: 140K).
- Airing adjacent to the NFL on CBS, PBR Tour bull riding averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.84 million viewers last Sunday — for the second-straight week, trailing only NASCAR as the most-watched non-football sporting event.
For more sports ratings, see the latest weekly chart. Additional data from Sports TV Ratings 10.6.
