Fewer viewers chose to stick around after last week’s lackluster Super Bowl. Also: Bruins-Rangers dipped on Wednesday Night Hockey, and Top Rank Boxing scored an increase on ESPN.
Steep declines for Super Bowl postgame shows
The Super Bowl postgame show had a 23.6 rating and 54.2 million viewers on CBS last Sunday, down 25% in ratings and 26% in viewership from last year on NBC (31.5, 73.5M) and down 10% and 11% respectively from 2017 on FOX (26.1, 61.1M). It was the lowest rated and least-watched Super Bowl postgame show since at least 2007.
Shifting to cable, ESPN’s postgame NFL Primetime had 1.62 million viewers (-33%) and SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt 1.09 million (-37%). NFL Network’s postgame coverage had 818,000 (-28%).
The Super Bowl lead-out show — the premiere of the CBS reality show “The World’s Best” — had an 11.0 rating and 22.2 million viewers, down 21% in ratings and 18% in viewership from “This is Us” on NBC last year (14.0, 27.0M). Compared to “24: Legacy” on FOX in 2017, viewership increased 26% from 17.6 million.
Figures for the Super Bowl pregame and halftime shows were not immediately available.
B’s-Rangers slips on NBCSN
Bruins-Rangers scored a 0.27 rating and 428,000 viewers on the latest edition of NBCSN’s NHL Wednesday Night Hockey, down 5% in viewership from the same matchup last year (451K) and down 34% and 39% respectively from 2017 (Blackhawks-Wild: 0.41, 696K).
Top Rank scores double-digit bump on ESPN
The latest edition of ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing had a 0.6 rating and 880,000 viewers last Saturday night, up 16% in ratings and 19% in viewership from the same window last year (0.49, 741K). According to Boxing Scene, the telecast had an additional 122,000 on ESPN Deportes. Versus ESPN’s previous Top Rank Boxing telecast in December, which aired after the Heisman Trophy Presentation, ratings fell 51% (from 1.2) and viewership 53% (from 1.87M).
[Numbers from Nielsen via Programming Insider 2.5; ShowBuzz Daily 2.5; Boxing Scene 2.5]
