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]
