ESPY Awards viewership declined once again; the U.S. Women’s Open was the most-watched in nearly a decade; plus: a down weekend for F1 and NASCAR, and more.
ESPY Awards viewership hits non-COVID low
Wednesday’s ESPY Awards averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.3 million viewers on ABC, down seven percent from last year (1.5, 2.5M) and the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the event — excluding the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021 — in a decade. The event averaged nearly three million more viewers (5.3M) as recently as 2017.
U.S. Women’s Open is most-watched in nine years
Last week’s U.S. Women’s Open averaged 895,000 viewers across NBC, USA Network and Peacock, up 118% from last year (410K), up 47% from two years ago (608K) and the largest audience for the event since 2014 (1.03M). Outside of 2014, it was the most-watched since 2009.
Final round coverage last Sunday averaged a 1.0 rating and 1.55 million on NBC (1.58M including streaming), up 89% from last year (877K) the largest audience for any round of the tournament since 2014 (2.04M).
Third round action the previous day drew a 0.7 and 1.08 million. Overall, NBC’s weekend coverage averaged 1.34 million (including streaming), up 76% from last year (765K) and up 35% from two years ago (995K).
In other golf action, CBS drew a 1.0 (-14%) and 1.59 million (-17%) for the final round of the PGA Tour John Deere Classic last Sunday and a 0.8 (-17%) and 1.21 million (-21%) for third round coverage the prior day.
F1, NASCAR, down last weekend
The Formula 1 British Grand Prix averaged a 0.6 rating and 1.17 million viewers on ESPN2 last Sunday, down from last year’s record-high 1.24 million, but the second-largest audience ever for the race.
F1 races are now averaging 1.26 million viewers across the ESPN networks, down from the same point last year, when viewership was boosted by a record audience for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix. Compared to the same point in 2021, viewership is up from 961,000.
Later Sunday, NASCAR Cup Series racing from Atlanta drew a 1.5 and 2.56 million on USA Network — flat in ratings and down 3% in viewership from last year (1.5, 2.63M). The NASCAR race edged F1 in adults 18-49 (502K to 488K) and trailed in 18-34 (195K to 212K).
Plus: Gold Cup, UFC, WNBA
- Wednesday’s Mexico-Jamaica Concacaf Gold Cup semifinal averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.77 million viewers on Univision, preceded by Panama-United States at a 0.9 and 1.90 million — a mixed bag compared to two years ago (Mexico-Canada: ~3.3M; USMNT-Qatar: ~1.7M). FS1 viewership was not immediately available. Going back to the quarterfinals, Mexico-Costa Rica drew a 1.0 and 2.47 million on Univision and a 0.1 and 278,000 on FS1 last Saturday, and USMNT-Canada a 1.0 and 2.32 million on Univision and a 0.6 and 1.39 million on FS1 last Sunday.
- UFC 290 prelims averaged a combined 1.0 rating and 1.89 million viewers across ABC (0.61, 1.16M), ESPN (0.36, 704K) and ESPN Deportes (0.01, 26K) last Saturday night, marking the largest UFC audience on linear television since the series made its ESPN debut in January 2018 (1.96M).
- WNBA games have averaged 548,000 viewers across the ESPN networks entering the All-Star break, up 46% from last year. More than half of the 13 games have aired on ABC, which is averaging 647,000 — up 18% from last year, when the network aired half as many games.
(Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 7.13, this website 7.11)
