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Home › Linear Media › Paramount › CBS › Ratings: NFL on CBS, World Challenge, NBA, WCBB

Ratings: NFL on CBS, World Challenge, NBA, WCBB

NFL singleheader hits a third-straight low

by Jon Lewis
8 years ago
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GLENDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 18:  The CBS and NFL logos on a banner during the NFL football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals on November 18, 2018 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire)

GLENDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 18: The CBS and NFL logos on a banner during the NFL football game between the Oakland Raiders and the Arizona Cardinals on November 18, 2018 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire)

The NFL singleheader hit a third-straight low. Also: ratings and viewership plunged for golf’s World Challenge; ESPN pulled weak numbers for a Friday NBA doubleheader; UConn-Notre Dame scored a big increase.

NFL Singleheader Hits Week 13 Low

The Week 13 NFL singleheader window scored an 8.3 rating and 13.9 million viewers on CBS, down 9% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (9.1, 15.1M) and down 23% and 25% respectively from 2016 (10.8, 18.5M). It was the lowest rated Week 13 singleheader since at least 2000 and the least-watched since 2006 (13.0M).

The singleheader has now declined to multi-year lows in three straight weeks.

Big Plunge For Golf’s World Challenge

Final round coverage of the World Challenge golf tournament earned a 0.6 rating and 800,000 viewers on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 50% in ratings and 55% in viewership from last year (1.2, 1.77M) and down 40% and 43% respectively from 2016 (1.0, 1.40M).

It was the least-watched round of the tournament on broadcast television since at least 2012.

Third round coverage on Saturday had a 0.7 (-46%) and 1.03 million (-44%). Tiger Woods finished 17th in the 18-player field.

Friday NBA Weak on ESPN

Last Friday’s Rockets-Spurs NBA regular season game had a 0.6 rating and 964,000 viewers on ESPN, down 45% in ratings and 44% in viewership from the comparable night in 2016 (Cavaliers-Bulls: 1.1, 1.71M).

The Nuggets-Blazers nightcap had a 0.6 and 923,000, down 25% and 24% respectively from ’16 (Rockets-Nuggets: 0.8, 1.22M). There was no comparable doubleheader last year.

Not counting NBA TV, Friday’s games were the third-and fourth-least watched of the season — ahead of only Clippers-Kings on TNT the previous night (782K) and Spurs-Clippers on TNT two weeks prior (882K).

UConn-Notre Dame Up Big on ESPN

Sunday’s UConn-Notre Dame women’s college basketball game scored a 0.43 rating and 670,000 viewers on ESPN, up 23% in ratings and 30% in viewership from the same matchup in the same window last year (0.35, 515K), and up 48% and 58% respectively from 2016 (Texas-UConn: 0.29, 425K).

[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 12.4]

Tags: Blazers TV RatingsCollege Basketball on ESPNCollege Basketball RatingsFinal RatingsGolf on NBCGolf RatingsNBA on ESPNNBA RatingsNFL on CBSNFL Ratings 2018NFL Singleheader WindowNotre Dame RatingsNuggets TV RatingsRockets TV RatingsSpurs TV RatingsUConn TV Ratings
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Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis has been covering the sports media industry on a daily basis since 2006 as the founder and main writer of Sports Media Watch. You can contact him here or on the social media websites X (Twitter) or Bluesky.

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