UCLA-Stanford delivered ESPN’s smallest “Power 5” audience in at least seven years. Also: Warriors-Lakers scored strong numbers by preseason standards; NBCSN posted a pair of big increases for Wednesday Night Hockey.
UCLA-Stanford hits ESPN low
Thursday’s UCLA-Stanford college football game averaged a mere 0.30 rating and 445,000 viewers on ESPN, ranking as the network’s least-watched “Power 5” game since at least 2012.
Across all FBS conferences, it ranks as ESPN’s fourth-least watched game over that span. The bottom three are Temple-ECU the previous week (374K), Tulane-Houston last year (378K) and USF-UCF on Thanksgiving 2015 (388K).
Warriors-Lakers among top preseason games of decade
Wednesday’s Warriors-Lakers NBA preseason game averaged a 0.8 rating and 1.19 million viewers on ESPN, marking the network’s fourth-largest preseason audience in the past decade.
Compared to the teams’ preseason matchup on ESPN last year, ratings fell 38% (from 1.3) and viewership 40% (from 1.98M). Keep in mind that game was the most-watched preseason telecast on record, regardless of network.
Earlier in the night, Hawks-Knicks had a 0.6 and 881,000.
Big jump for Wednesday NHL doubleheader on NBCSN
Avalanche-Penguins averaged a 0.38 rating and 636,000 viewers on the latest edition of NBCSN’s NHL Wednesday Night Hockey, up 90% in ratings and 93% in viewership from last year (Rangers-Capitals: 0.20, 329K) and up 46% and 52% respectively from 2017 (Blackhawks-Blues: 0.26, 419K).
The Flyers-Oilers nightcap was also up significantly, averaging a 0.15 and 234,000 (+44%). Unlike last year, the games did not face MLB Postseason competition.
In other action, Rangers-Devils averaged a 0.21 and 358,000 on Thursday and Lightning-Canadiens 197,000 viewers on Tuesday.
