Out-of-home viewing provided a modest lift to ESPN’s college football viewership in October. In other news, TNT earned its top NBA audience in more than two months, and NBCSN scored one of its better NHL audiences this season.
OOH Viewing Boosts ESPN
- According to Adweek, out-of-home viewing in “bars, gyms and other public venues” lifted ESPN’s average college football viewership by 6% in the month of October, from 1.12 million to 1.19 million. ABC’s average viewership rose 5% from 5.0 to 5.3 million. Out-of-home data will be included in Nielsen sports viewership data starting in April, retroactive to this past September. (Adweek, 12/29)
End of TNF Boosts NBA on TNT
- Celtics/Cavaliers scored 1.6 million viewers on the NBA on TNT Thursday night, the network’s largest NBA audience since November 3 — when the same matchup had 2.3 million and Thunder/Warriors 3.8 million. In the nightcap, Mavericks/Lakers had 1.3 million. There were no comparable games last year. It was the first doubleheader on TNT that did not have to face NFL action on NBC since November 10. (via ShowBuzz Daily 12/30)
Decent Outing For NHL on NBCSN
- Flyers/Blues had 464,000 viewers on the latest edition of NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry, the network’s seventh-largest audience of the season (30 telecasts). The following night, Devils/Capitals had 181,000. There were no comparable windows last year. (via ShowBuzz Daily 12/29, 12/30)
