The WNBA opened its 20th season with a 15-year viewership high. In other news, IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis attracted fewer viewers, and the Liga MX quarterfinals set a cable record for club soccer.
WNBA Opens Season With 15-Year High
- Saturday’s Mercury/Lynx WNBA opening night game earned a 0.3 final rating and 505,000 viewers on ESPN, marking the league’s largest regular season audience on ESPN or ESPN2 since 2001. Regardless of network, it was the top regular season game since Mercury/Fever on ABC in June 2013 (552K). (ESPN Media Zone)
Viewership Drops For IndyCar GP of Indy
- The IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Indianapolis scored a 0.7 final rating and 905,000 viewers on ABC last Saturday, flat in ratings and down 10% in viewership from last year (0.7, 1.0M) and down 22% and 27%, respectively, from the inaugural edition in 2014 (0.9, 1.2M). (ESPN)
El Super Clasico Boosts Liga MX Quarters
- Last Thursday’s opening leg of the Club América/Chivas Liga MX quarterfinal had a 0.7 final rating and 1.4 million viewers on Univision Deportes Network, the largest audience ever for club soccer on a U.S. cable network. Sunday’s second leg had a combined 1.3 and 2.7 million on Univision and UDN, up 63% in ratings and 56% in viewership from Chivas/Atlas last year (0.8, 1.7M). (Univision)
