The Kentucky Derby dominated the day in sports viewing with nearly 16 million viewers.
Saturday’s race portion of the Kentucky Derby averaged a 7.5 rating and 15.97 million viewers on NBC, up 8% in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year and the largest linear Nielsen audience for the race in five years.
Including a streaming audience of 714,000 measured by Adobe Analytics, the race audience was the largest since 1989. (Keep in mind out-of-home viewing was not tracked in Nielsen estimates prior to 2020.) See this article for more on Kentucky Derby ratings.
Outside of the Derby, NBA playoff action led the way as Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 1 averaged a 2.4 and 4.93 million across TNT (2.1, 4.28M) and truTV (0.30, 652K) — up 12% and 20% respectively from Suns-Nuggets last year. For more on NBA playoff ratings, see the preceding link.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs ranked not far behind as Maple Leafs-Bruins Game 7 delivered a 1.6 and 3.24 million on ABC, the largest opening round NHL audience in a dozen years (2012 Bruins-Capitals Game 6: 3.52M). See this article for more on Stanley Cup viewership.
Placing much further back in a crowded primetime window, regional Major League Baseball action on FOX drew a 0.8 and 1.53 million — down sharply from a 1.1 and 2.08 million last year.
Shifting to the afternoon hours, a Wolves-Manchester City English Premier League match had a 0.6 and 1.15 million across NBC (0.51, 906K) and Telemundo (0.12, 241K), topping the day in soccer. A North Carolina-NY/NJ NWSL match drew a 0.13 and 219,000 on ION, the network’s top audience of the season.
Third round action of the PGA Tour Byron Nelson tournament drew a 0.6 and 1.06 million on CBS, down a third from last year (1.0, 1.58M). Competing LIV Golf from Singapore had a 0.10 and 154,000 on CW.
In the UFL, Birmingham-Memphis drew a 0.6 and 956,000 on ABC, followed by Houston-St. Louis on FOX at a 0.49 and 829,000.
Further down the dial, the F1 Miami Sprint race averaged a 0.50 and 946,000 on ESPN — the most-watched Sprint event in the short history of the format. Miami GP qualifying drew a 0.30 and 625,000 earlier in the day. For more on the F1 Miami numbers, see this link.
In other auto racing action, NASCAR Truck Series racing from Kansas drew a 0.37 and 631,000 on FS1, followed by Cup Series qualifying at a 0.27 and 471,000.
Sandwiched between ESPN’s F1 telecasts, an Alabama-Auburn college softball game drew a 0.21 and season-high 403,000. Leading out of F1, the Long Beach State-UCLA NCAA men’s volleyball national championship scored a 0.13 and 255,000 — up 11% from last year and the highest since 2011. In beach volleyball, LSU-Stanford topped the quarterfinal and semifinal action with a 0.06 and 117,000 on ESPN2.
Returning to primetime, UFC 301 prelims drew a 0.39 and 796,000 on ESPN and a Texas A&M-LSU college baseball game drew a 0.13 and 277,000 on ESPN2.
Saturday, May 4 sports ratings
