UConn-Tennessee and USC-Iowa delivered two of the season’s top women’s college basketball audiences. Plus: the annual NFL Honors hit a new low; Rangers-Bruins hit highs on both ABC and TNT; and more.
UConn-Tennessee, USC-Iowa, among top women’s games of season
Thursday’s UConn-Tennessee women’s college basketball game averaged a 0.47 rating and 831,000 viewers on ESPN, up 27% from the rivals’ previous meeting two years ago (656K) and more than double Notre Dame-Louisville on the equivalent night last year (343K).
Tennessee’s win, which peaked with 1.3 million viewers, delivered the sixth-largest audience of the season and the third-largest on the ESPN networks. The Stanford-Notre Dame nightcap had a 0.21 and 392,000.
In other women’s action, last Sunday’s USC-Iowa game averaged just shy of 1.1 million on FOX — the second-largest audience of the season. Former Iowa G Caitlin Clark was at the game for her jersey retirement and at one point was a guest in the FOX booth.
USC has played in the three most-watched games this season, including a matchup against UConn on FOX in December that averaged more than two million following an NFL game.
NFL Honors least-watched
Thursday’s annual NFL Honors averaged a combined 1.3 rating and 2.30 million viewers across FOX and NFL Network, down 20% from last year on CBS and NFL Network (2.89M) and the smallest audience yet for the annual awards show. Despite the decline, it was the most-watched sports-related telecast of the night.
Compared to other sports awards shows, the NFL Honors trailed the same season edition of the Heisman Trophy Presentation (2.52M) for the first time since 2014. It also trailed last year’s ESPY Awards (2.33M).
Rangers-Bruins delivers highs on TNT, ABC
Last Saturday’s Rangers-Bruins NHL regular season game averaged 1.1 million viewers on ABC, the largest audience of the season on any network. Blackhawks-Panthers led-in with 723,000. There were no games on the comparable day last season, which coincided with the NHL All-Star Game. There is no All-Star Game this season.
In other NHL action, Wednesday’s Bruins-Rangers game averaged a combined 537,000 across TNT and truTV (+30%), the largest indoor audience of the season on TNT Sports. The Oilers-Blackhawks nightcap lagged with 217,000 (-20%).
Plus: Unrivaled, TGL, Senior Bowl
— The new women’s basketball league Unrivaled is averaging 185,000 viewers across TNT and truTV through three weeks, with last week’s slate averaging 166,000. Coverage last Monday averaged 196,000 (Vinyl-Lunar Owls: 216K; Phantom-Mist: 177K), up 18% from the previous week.
— The latest edition of the new TGL golf league averaged a series-low 0.27 rating and 544,000 viewers on ESPN Tuesday night, down from the previous mark of 682,000.
— Last weekend’s college football Senior Bowl averaged 493,000 viewers on NFL Network, down from last year’s 552,000.
