Thursday Night Football scored a rare ratings bump; Formula 1 posted a modest decline in a shortened season. Plus: numbers for the finals of Liga MX and MLS, and the latest results from Top Rank Boxing.
Chargers-Raiders gives TNF rare bump
The latest edition of NFL Thursday Night Football (Chargers-Raiders) averaged a Nielsen-estimated 7.6 rating and 12.96 million viewers across FOX and NFL Network, up a tick in ratings and 7% in viewership from last year (Jets-Ravens: 7.5, 12.14M). It was the first TNF simulcast all season to post an increase in ratings and the second to do so in viewership.
Modest drop for F1 season despite reduced schedule
The shortened Formula 1 season averaged 607,000 viewers across the ESPN family of networks, down 10% from last year, when all races aired as scheduled (672K). Keep in mind this season did not include the highly-rated Monaco Grand Prix or any races in North America, and none of the 17 races aired on broadcast television.
On cable alone, the season average was down just 1% from last year (614K).
Last weekend’s season finale at Abu Dhabi averaged a 0.31 rating and 523,000 viewers on ESPN2, up a hair in ratings and 11% in viewership from last year (0.30, 473K).
Liga MX final big despite drop; MLS Cup up
Last Sunday’s second leg of the Liga MX Guardianes final (UNAM-Leon) averaged 2.4 million viewers on Univision, ranking second among all soccer telecasts in 2020 behind only a Thanksgiving weekend quarterfinal in the same tournament (America-Chivas: 2.5M). Viewership fell 27% from last year’s comparable final (America-Monterrey: 3.3M).
The first leg on December 10 averaged 1.7 million, ranking sixth among 2020 soccer telecasts and up 31% from last year’s first leg on Fox Deportes (1.3M).
In other soccer action, last Saturday’s MLS Cup (Columbus-Seattle) averaged 1.53 million across FOX and UniMas — up 20% from last year (Seattle-Toronto: 1.27M) but down 13% from 2018 (Atlanta-Portland: 1.76M).
Plus: Top Rank, U.S. Women’s Open, NBA preseason, CBB
Aided by a college football lead-in, ESPN’s Top Rank Boxing averaged a 0.9 rating and 1.55 million viewers last Saturday — the year’s second-best boxing audience behind another Top Rank card last month (1.76M). ESPN’s last three Top Rank cards, each of which followed football, have topped 1.5 million viewers. Per Boxing Scene, the main event was the least-watched of the night’s three fights. … The months-delayed U.S. Women’s Open topped out at just a 0.20 rating and 317,000 viewers for the second round. Figures for the final round, which was postponed to Monday, were not available. … Tuesday’s Warriors-Kings NBA preseason game averaged 964,000 viewers on TNT, the top audience of the preseason thus far (does not include Friday’s games). The same matchup on ESPN Thursday drew just 451,000 opposite the NFL. … Last Saturday’s Notre Dame-Kentucky college basketball game, the first of the season on CBS, averaged a 0.7 and 1.12 million — down 46% and 39% respectively from its first game last year (Oregon-Michigan: 1.3, 1.83M).
[Nielsen estimates from Programming Insider 12.18, ESPN, Univision, Soccer America 12.15, Boxing Scene 12.15, ShowBuzz Daily 12.15, 12.16, 12.18]
