NFL singleheader ratings hit a Week 16 low on CBS; Ohio State-Kentucky was no match for last year; the NCAA women’s volleyball final was the least-watched in years; Premier Boxing Champions dropped double-digits on FOX.
NFL singleheader hits Week 16 low
Sunday’s NFL singleheader window (Ravens-Browns in 59% of markets) averaged a 7.5 rating and 12.54 million viewers on CBS, marking the lowest rated Week 16 singleheader since at least 2000 and the least-watched since 2002 (10.96M).
Ratings fell 20% and viewership 23% from last year on FOX (ft. Buccaneers-Cowboys: 9.35, 16.33M) and 16% and 21% respectively from 2017 on CBS (ft. Patriots-Bills: 8.9, 15.81M).
OSU-Kentucky no match for Kentucky-UNC last year
Ohio State-Kentucky averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.27 million viewers in the back half of Saturday’s CBS Sports Classic college basketball doubleheader, down 13% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Kentucky-North Carolina last year (1.6, 2.71M), and flat and down 3% respectively from UCLA-Kentucky in 2017 (1.4, 2.33M).
Despite the drop, it delivered the third-largest audience of the season, behind ESPN’s Champions Classic doubleheader in November.
In the first half of the doubleheader, UCLA-North Carolina averaged a 0.8 (-20%) and 1.20 million (-21%).
In other action, FOX averaged a 0.8 and 1.27 million for Villanova’s upset of Kansas on Saturday, while ABC scored a mere 0.31 and 437,000 for South Carolina-Virginia on Sunday.
NCAA women’s volleyball championship hits low
Saturday’s Stanford-Wisconsin NCAA women’s volleyball championship averaged a 0.26 rating and 533,000 viewers on ESPN2, marking the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the game in at least a decade.
Ratings declined 49% and viewership 43% from last year (Stanford-Nebraska: 0.51, 938K) and 50% and 47% respectively from 2017 (Nebraska-Florida: 0.52, 1.01M).
The final generated a lower rating and fewer viewers than did the semifinal matches on ESPN last Thursday night.
PBC on FOX down from same weekend last year
The latest edition of Premier Boxing Champions on FOX averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.65 million viewers last Saturday night, down 15% in ratings and 16% in viewership from the same weekend last year (1.3, 1.97M). Despite the decline, it was the second-most watched boxing telecast of the year, behind a January edition of PBC on FOX (1.3, 1.98M).
According to Boxing Scene, the Jermell Charlo-Tony Harrison main event averaged 2.22 million viewers — the most for any boxing match since Keith Thurman-Josesito Lopez on FOX in January (2.48M).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 12.24, Boxing Scene 12.24]
