The NBA Play-in Tournament topped a second-straight night with another double-digit increase.
Wednesday’s NBA Play-in Tournament games averaged 3.25 million viewers on ESPN (3.27 million including ESPN Deportes), up 25% from last year. In particular, Heat-Sixers drew 3.40 million and Hawks-Bulls 3.07 million, the two largest sports audiences of the day.
For more on the play-in numbers, see the preceding link.
Outside of the NBA, the day’s top sports telecast was a Manchester United-Real Madrid UEFA Champions League quarterfinal at a combined 1.0 and 1.82 million across CBS (0.6, 1.11M) and UniMas (0.32, 716K). The CBS telecast increased 25% from the equivalent match last year.
No other sportscast managed even 400,000 viewers. A Maple Leafs-Lightning NHL regular season game placed a distant third with a combined 344,000 across TNT (278K) and truTV (66K), followed by Blues-Stars at 331,000 (TNT: 290K; truTV: 41K).
The TUDN portion of the Manchester City-Real Madrid UEFA Chmapions League quarterfinal drew 219,000. Figures for the CBS and UniMas airings will be added when available.
In baseball, MLB Network opened the day with 116,000 for a Noon ET regional window, followed by midday coverage at 202,000 and primetime action at 204,000. A Wisconsin-Minnesota college softball game drew 25,000 on BTN.
Beyond the world of sports, CNN averaged 531,000 viewers in for a 10 PM ET edition of “Newsnight” — not only up 29% from the final edition of “King Charles” in the same window the prior week, but higher than any episode of the series.
Wednesday, April 17 sports ratings
Updated chart (includes UEFA on CBS):
Original chart below:
