Hours after a favorable ruling for Patriots QB Tom Brady, the team scored its highest local TV rating of the preseason. In other news, NBC scored a modest gain for its English Premier League match last weekend, and the World Track & Field Championships had a double-digit drop in viewership.
Patriots Hit Preseason High After Brady Ruling
- Thursday’s Giants/Patriots NFL preseason game drew a 16.7 rating on Boston CBS affiliate WBZ, the market’s highest of the preseason and its second-highest for a preseason finale on record (dates back to 2002). The game took place hours after a federal judge overturned the NFL’s four-game suspension of Patriots QB Tom Brady. (Patriots.com)
Slight Increase For Last Week’s EPL on NBC
- Last Saturday’s Tottenham/Everton English Premier League match drew a 0.6 final rating and 850,000 viewers on NBC, up a tick in ratings and 8% in viewership from Liverpool/Aston Villa last season (0.5, 791K) and flat and down 7%, respectively, from Chelsea/Everton in 2013 (0.6, 917K). Both last year and in 2013, week four of the season took place two weeks later on the calendar. (Nielsen)
Fewer Viewers For World Track & Field Championships
- Tape delayed coverage of the World Track & Field Championships drew a 0.9 final rating and 1.3 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, down 18% in ratings and 21% in viewership from 2013 (1.1, 1.7M). Coverage the previous day drew a 0.8 rating and 988,000, flat and down 10%, respectively, from 2013 (0.8, 1.1M). Coverage the previous weekend drew a 0.5 and 728,000 on Saturday and a 0.9 and 1.3 million on Sunday. (Nielsen)
