ESPN posted its smallest opening Thursday college football audience in at least a decade; the NFL preseason ended on a low note; Hard Knocks posted its smallest audience in two years; US Open viewership is up.
Thursday CFB openers low on ESPN
Thursday’s UCLA-Cincinnati college football game averaged 1.63 million viewers on ESPN, marking the network’s least-watched game on the opening Thursday of the season since at least 2008. Viewership declined 6% from last year (Northwestern-Purdue: 1.74M) and 68% from a much-hyped Ohio State-Indiana “Megacast” two years ago (5.13M). Ratings were not immediately available.
The Utah-BYU nightcap averaged 1.68 million, marking ESPN’s second-least watched opening Thursday game since at least ’08. There was no comparable window last year.
In other action, FS1 averaged 392,000 for South Dakota State-Minnesota — up 16% from last year (Missouri State-Oklahoma State: 337K) and up 3% from 2017 (Tulsa-Oklahoma State: 382K).
No figures were reported for Thursday’s Georgia Tech-Clemson game, as ACC Network is not Nielsen-rated.
NFL preseason ends on low note
Thursday’s Chargers-49ers NFL preseason game averaged 470,000 viewers on NFL Network, marking the smallest preseason audience on any network in at least five years. Viewership declined 22% from last year (Broncos-Cardinals: 606K) and 23% from 2017 (Seahawks-Raiders: 607K). Ratings were not immediately available.
Earlier in the night, Eagles-Jets pulled 681,000 — down 10% from last year (Browns-Lions: 756K) and down 4% from ’17 (Rams-Packers: 707K).
Overall, viewership declined for 14 of the 18 nationally televised preseason games that can be compared to last year.
Fourth Hard Knocks episode down double-digits
The latest edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks averaged 562,000 viewers Tuesday night, marking the show’s smallest TV audience in two years. Viewership declined 13% from the fourth episode of last season (647K). The numbers represent a departure from the show’s early season performance, when the first two episodes hit multi-year highs.
US Open viewership up thus far
Coverage of the US Open tennis tournament has averaged 870,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN2 through Thursday, up 26% from last year (691K). Viewership has increased for each telecast window thus far.
[Nielsen estimates via ShowBuzz Daily 8.30, 8.28, ESPN PR 8.30]
