The second night of the NFL Draft was no match for last year, but still topped the day in sports viewing for Friday, April 26.
Friday’s second and third rounds of the NFL Draft averaged a combined 5.05 million viewers across ABC (2.69M), ESPN2 (1.57M) and NFL Network (793K), down 9% from last year (5.53M) but still the top sports audience of the day. Coverage averaged 5.06 million including ESPN Deportes (14K).
Viewership declined across all three networks, slipping a fraction of a percent on ABC but dropping 15 and 20 percent respectively across ESPN2 and NFL Network. ESPN’s coverage aired solely on ESPN2, a shift from previous years when the flagship network would air the first hour or two.
Despite competition from the NFL Draft, the NBA Playoffs benefited from a scheduling change that gave ESPN three standalone windows. Clippers-Mavericks Game 3 averaged 3.34 million viewers, up 47% from Celtics-Hawks a year ago (2.27M). Timberwolves-Suns followed with 2.70 million, up 20% from last year’s Nuggets-Timberwolves game (2.25M). There was no competing Draft coverage last year.
In previous years, ESPN and ABC would air overlapping games on the first Friday of the playoffs. With ABC unavailable due to the NFL Draft, Friday’s third game aired in a special late afternoon window. Bucks-Pacers averaged 2.17 million on ESPN, down 13% from Cavaliers-Knicks on ABC last year (2.48M).
Overall, Friday’s tripleheader averaged 2.68 million viewers — up 15% compared to last year’s overlapping games (2.33M). The full NBA Playoffs is averaging 2.96 million viewers, down 6% from 3.16 million a year ago.
Shifting to the NHL, Rangers-Capitals Game 3 drew 768,000 viewers across TNT (629K) and truTV (139K) — up 8% from Bruins-Panthers last year (713K). Jets-Avalanche followed with 571,000 (TNT: 490K; truTV: 81K), down 3% from Oilers-Kings a year ago (591K). TBS chipped in 365,000 for Canucks-Predators and 285,000 for Oilers-Kings, both down nearly half from last year (Hurricanes-Islanders: 703K; Wild-Stars: 559K). As with the NBA, there was no competing Draft coverage last year.
Further down the dial, second round coverage of the PGA Tour New Orleans tournament averaged 354,000 on Golf Channel — exactly even with last year. MLB Network topped out at 222,000 for a primetime regional window. In college baseball, BTN drew 23,000 for Illinois-Maryland and 15,000 for Purdue-Northwestern, while FS1 drew just 17,000 for a primetime Major League Rugby match.
Friday, April 26 sports ratings
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Original chart below:
