Ratings roundup — the NBA returned from its All-Star break with double-digit gains on TNT; Tiger Woods boosted Riviera to a four-year high; the NHL Stadium Series scored in its return to broadcast television; and more.
NBA returns from All-Star break with double-digit gains on TNT
Thursday’s Warriors-Lakers NBA regular season game averaged 1.88 million viewers on TNT, up 41% from Warriors-Blazers in the same window last year (1.34M). The Lakers’ win ranks 20th for the season in viewership, with the Warriors (9) and Lakers (7) in more of the top 20 games than any other teams.
The Grizzlies-Sixers lead-in drew 1.44 million, up 20% from Celtics-Nets a year ago (1.20M).
Tiger lifts Riviera to four-year high
CBS coverage of the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational from Los Angeles — Tiger Woods’ first event of the season — averaged 3.12 million viewers last weekend, up 32% from last year and the tournament’s highest average since 2019 (3.31M).
Final round coverage last Sunday drew a 2.1 rating and 3.42 million viewers, up 31% in ratings and viewership from last year (1.6, 2.62M), but still down from two years ago (2.2, ~3.6M). Third round action the previous day drew a 1.8 and 2.84 million, up 32% in ratings and 33% in viewership (from 1.3, 2.13M) and the largest Saturday PGA Tour audience in nearly two years — since The Players Championship in 2021 (3.29M).
Caps-Canes top outdoor game outside of Winter Classic in four years
Last Saturday’s Capitals-Hurricanes NHL Stadium Series game averaged a 0.6 rating and 1.14 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest audience for a non-Winter Classic outdoor game since Flyers-Penguins on NBC in 2019 (1.94M). (That excludes the NBC portion of the NHL’s Lake Tahoe game two years ago, which was delayed due to weather conditions and concluded on NBCSN.)
As one would expect, ratings and viewership soared over last year’s Stadium Series game on TNT (Lightning-Predators: 0.26, 634K).
In other action, ESPN averaged 253,000 viewers for Flames-Golden Knights on Thursday — down 48% from Capitals-Rangers in an earlier window last year (485K) — and 458,000 for Ducks-Kings last Friday. TNT chipped in just 194,000 for Blackhawks-Stars Wednesday night.
Plus: XFL, CBB, softball
Thursday’s St. Louis-Seattle XFL regular season game averaged 553,000 viewers on FX, which per ESPN was the night’s largest audience across ESPN, ESPN2 and FX. Viewership was still the lowest of the week-old season and trailed every game of the previous XFL three years ago. … Last Saturday’s Baylor-Kansas men’s college basketball game averaged a 0.85 rating and 1.56 million viewers on ESPN, up from Tennessee-Arkansas in the same window last year (0.7, 1.32M) and the largest college basketball audience of the past week. … Last Sunday’s Florida State-Alabama Clearwater Invitational college softball game averaged a 0.33 and 549,000 on ESPN, down from UCLA-FSU in a similar window last year (0.36, 648K) but the second-largest audience in the four-year history of the event.
(Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily, network PR)
