Ratings roundup — the Heat-Celtics Eastern Conference Finals opened with a decline; NASCAR scored a fifth-straight increase in viewership; Sunday Night Baseball surged with less competition; and more.
Heat-Celtics opens with dip
Wednesday’s Heat-Celtics NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 averaged a 3.2 rating and 5.95 million viewers on TNT, down 5% in ratings and 2% in viewership from the same matchup on ESPN last year (3.4, 6.07M). Compared to TNT’s conference final opener last year, Mavericks-Warriors, ratings fell 10% and viewership 9% from a 3.6 and 6.52 million. A widespread YouTube TV outage late in the game is believed to have impacted viewership.
Just three wins shy of the NBA Finals, 8 seed Miami has not yet begun to move the needle. Viewership has declined for all-but-two Heat playoff games that can be compared to last year, the exceptions being Games 1 and 2 of the Knicks series.
Game 1 was the night’s top program in the key adult demographics, scoring a 2.1 rating in 18-49, 1.8 in 18-34 and 2.3 in 25-54 — down 7%, 8% and 5% respectively from last year’s opener between the teams.
NASCAR scores fifth-straight gain at Darlington
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington (S.C.) averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.69 million viewers on FS1, down a tick in ratings but up 3% in viewership from last year (1.5, 2.61M) and the fifth-straight race — dating back to Chase Elliott’s return from injury — to post an increase in viewership.
In other racing action, the IndyCar Series Indianapolis Grand Prix averaged a 0.46 and 715,000 on NBC last Saturday — down 23% and 28% respectively from a year ago (0.60, 998K).
Sunday Night Baseball surges with no Game 7 competition
The latest edition of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (Cardinals-Red Sox) averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.77 million viewers last weekend, up 70% in ratings and 84% in viewership from Giants-Tigers last year (0.6, 961K). Last year’s game aired opposite competing game sevens in both the NBA and NHL, while this year’s game faced no such competition.
The previous night, regional action on FOX averaged a 1.0 and 1.82 million. FOX had not started its run of primetime windows at this point last year.
Plus: Byron Nelson, UFC, softball
- Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Byron Nelson averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.33 million viewers on CBS last Sunday, down 24% in ratings and 18% in viewership from last year (1.8, 2.85M). Third round action the previous day drew a 1.0 and 1.58 million, down 24% and 21% respectively (from 1.3, 1.98M). Seven of the past eight PGA Tour windows on broadcast television have posted a decline from last year.
- College softball’s SEC Tournament final (South Carolina-Tennessee) averaged a 0.27 rating and 485,000 viewers on ESPN last Saturday, down a tick in ratings but up 8% in viewership from the Big 12 final in the same window last year (Oklahoma State-Oklahoma). Earlier in the day, the ACC Tournament final (FSU-Duke) drew a 0.24 and 372,000 on ESPN2 — down 29% and 33% respectively from last year’s game on ESPN (Clemson-FSU: 0.34, 552K).
- Last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night on ABC averaged a 0.6 rating and 1.02 million viewers, up from the network’s previous main event last July (0.6, 951K).
(Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 5.18, ShowBuzz Daily 5.16, 5.18)
