TNT’s NBA viewership improved in the month of February, both over last year and the prior months this season. Plus: CBS and NBC have both seen gains to start the PGA Tour season; also, the latest from TGL and Unrivaled.
TNT NBA viewership improves in February
TNT averaged 1.4 million viewers for NBA games in the month of February, up from last year (1.2M) and also up more than a third from the prior two months. Contributing factors include the Lakers’ trade for Luka Doncic and Nielsen’s expansion of out-of-home viewing. The network ended the month with a decline as Nuggets-Bucks averaged 1.3 million Thursday night, down 15% from a higher-profile Warriors-Knicks matchup last year (1.5M).
In other NBA action, ESPN averaged 1.0 million for Sixers-Knicks and just 880,000 for Spurs-Rockets on Wednesday night, down 6 and 37 percent respectively from last year’s pairing of Pelicans-Pacers (1.06M) and Lakers-Clippers (1.40M).
NBC, CBS, see gains for PGA Tour
Last Sunday’s final round coverage of the PGA Tour Mexico Open averaged just shy of 2.0 million viewers on NBC (Nielsen + Adobe Analytics), up 12% from last year. The tournament was the first of the season on NBC.
CBS finished its West Coast swing with an average of 2.27 million viewers, up 17% from the same point last season (1.94M) — with the caveat that last year’s average does not include the Phoenix Open (which aired on NBC) or the final round of Pebble Beach (which was canceled due to weather).
The network’s top audience thus far was 3.4 million for the February 16 final round of the Los Angeles Open — which was relocated to Torrey Pines due to the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires — the largest final round PGA Tour audience since last year’s Players Championship.
TGL hits series-low, but still outpacing year-ago ESPN windows
The TGL golf league averaged a series-low 297,000 viewers on ESPN2 Monday night and 384,000 on ESPN on Tuesday, with both windows down from the prior week on the same networks (357K and 546K).
The series is still averaging 712,000 in primetime, up 21% from the comparable ESPN windows a year ago. Keep in mind that average that does not include a pair of Presidents Day matinees that averaged 377,000 and 347,000.
TGL continues to attract an unusually young audience for televised golf, with its median age of 51.9 younger than three of the “Big Four” major sports (the NBA being the exception) and a full decade lower than that of LIV Golf.
Unrivaled back to normal pace after 1×1 tournament
The new women’s basketball league Unrivaled is averaging 190,000 viewers across TNT Sports through Monday, with that figure rising to 223,000 excluding truTV-exclusive windows (123K). Monday’s coverage averaged 196,000 viewers (Laces-Mist: 208K; Phantom-Rose: 185K) and last Friday’s window scored 212,000 (Lunar Owls-Rose: 214K; Mist-Vinyl: 210K).
Last Saturday’s coverage delivered the largest truTV-exclusive audience of the season as 132,000 tuned in for Vinyl-Phantom (143K) and Laces-Lunar Owls (120K).
