Despite a big decline last Sunday, television viewership for the NFL preseason started to recover last week on ESPN and FOX.
Thursday’s Panthers/Ravens NFL preseason game drew just under 4.0 million viewers on ESPN, up 18% from Cardinals/Titans last year (3.4), but down 14% from Washington/Ravens in 2011 (4.6M).
The game was the second-straight preseason telecast on ESPN to have an increase over last year. As previously reported, Monday’s Steelers/Washington game (5.6M) had a 10% increase in viewership.
The news was not quite as good for FOX. Last Sunday’s Colts/Giants preseason game drew a 4.1 final rating and 6.5 million viewers — the second-largest audience of the preseason on any network, but down 31% in ratings and 32% in viewership from Colts/Steelers on NBC last year (6.0, 9.5M).
Colts/Giants earned the smallest audience for a Sunday preseason game since Seahawks/Chargers on NBC in 2007 (6.0M).
Two nights earlier, FOX earned a 3.0 and 4.7 million viewers for the Buccaneers/Patriots game. Though not as big a draw as Colts/Giants on Sunday, the game was up 15% and 17%, respectively, from Lions/Ravens last year (2.6, 4.0M).
(This week’s numbers from Sports Business Daily, The Futon Critic)
