From Sports Media Watch, a one-stop page for sports ratings news.
Two decades in, ABC's "Saturday Night Football" is the most-watched college football window for a second-straight season.
ABC's "Saturday Night Football" ranks as the most-watched college football window of the season through eight weeks, averaging 8.9 million viewers -- up 9% from the same point last year. The most recent edition, Mississippi-Texas this past weekend, was the most-watched of week eight with a 3.8 rating and 8.09 million opposite the World Series.
The Longhorns' win -- which peaked with 9.2 million viewers -- was flat in ratings and up 1% in viewership from Alabama-Tennessee in week eight last year (3.8, 8.01M).
The World Series got off to a solid start and seems poised for a healthy finish, but in between suffered a historic viewership hit for a lopsided Game 3.
Monday's Brewers-Rays World Series Game 3 averaged 8.3 million viewers across FOX and Fox Deportes, according to sources, marking possibly the smallest audience on record for a World Series game. (Viewership had not been officially announced as of Wednesday night.) The current record low is 8.29 million across FOX and Fox Deportes for Rangers-Diamondbacks Game 3 in 2023.
The NBA opened the second season of its media rights deal with a new Opening Week viewership high.
NBA opening week games averaged 3.24 million viewers across NBCUniversal, ESPN and Amazon Prime Video, up 15% from last year (2.81M) and the highest average since 2012, excluding the COVID-delayed 2020-21 season that began during Christmas week. Excluding the matinee game on the opening day of the season (Celtics-Pistons), the games averaged 3.33 million (+19%).
As previously noted, NBC averaged 5.1 million viewers for its Opening Night tripleheader -- and 6.4 million for the primetime games -- across a Nielsen-measured linear audience and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics.
Moved up to an earlier timeslot, Game 4 of the WNBA Finals fell short of the previous week's series opener -- but still delivered a viewership high.
Saturday's Valkyries-Dream WNBA Finals Game 4 averaged 1.895 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-estimated linear audience (1.66M) and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics (232K), marking the largest audience for a Game 4 in the WNBA Finals. The previous high was 1.67 million for Liberty-Lynx on ESPN two years ago.
Considering the matchup, viewership for Games 1 and 2 of the World Series held up about as well as Fox Sports could have possibly hoped.
Friday's Rays-Brewers World Series Game 1 averaged 12.26 million viewers across FOX (11.51M), Fox Deportes and Univision, followed by Game 2 on Saturday night at 10.85 million across FOX (10.66M) and Fox Deportes -- down 8% and 7% respectively from last year's equivalent 13.31 and 11.63 million for Dodgers-Blue Jays.
Viewership declined further compared to the bigger-market pairing of the Dodgers and Yankees two years ago, which averaged 15.47 million for Game 1 and 14.10 million for Game 2.
"Thursday Night Football" hit yet another viewership high in Week 7 of the season, as Patriots-Bears delivered one of the series' top audiences since moving to Prime Video.
The latest edition of NFL "Thursday Night Football" (Patriots-Bears) averaged 19.86 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, including local over-the-air simulcasts in the home markets -- trailing only Broncos-Chiefs on Christmas night last year (21.06M) as the most-watched edition of "TNF" since Prime Video began airing the series in 2022.
The WNBA Finals set another viewership mark in Game 3.
Wednesday's Valkyries-Dream WNBA Finals Game 3 averaged 1.71 million viewers, combining a Nielsen-measured linear audience on USA Network and CNBC with an Adobe Analytics-measured streaming audience on Peacock -- marking the largest audience for Game 3 of the Finals since the winner-take-all Liberty-Comets on NBC in 1999 (3.25M).
It also ranks as the third-most watched WNBA Finals game ever on cable, behind the winner-take-all Lynx-Liberty Game 5 on ESPN in 2024 (2.15M) and last year's Mercury-Aces Game 1 (1.86M).
If not quite reaching the high bar set last year, MLB Postseason viewership has held up better than one might expect.
The MLB Postseason was averaging 4.375 million viewers across Fox Sports, TNT Sports and NBCUniversal through the League Championship Series, down 2% from the same point last year (4.48M), but officially the second-highest average at this point of the postseason since 2018.
Last year's postseason benefited from more winner-take-all games, including three in the Wild Card Series, two in the Division Series and one in the LCS.
The Knicks' title run produced another NBA viewership milestone, as their ring night -- and LeBron James' Sixers debut -- set an Opening Night mark.
Tuesday's Sixers-Knicks NBA Opening Night game averaged 7.71 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience (5.98M) and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics (1.7M), officially marking the largest Opening Night NBA audience on record, excluding the lockout-delayed 2011-12 season that began on Christmas Day.
The previous high for a traditional Opening Night was 7.35 million for Heat-Celtics on TNT in 2010, which marked James' debut with the Miami Heat.
After viewership pulled ahead of last year's pace in Week 5, the NFL extended its lead in Week 6 of the season.
NFL regular season windows were averaging 18.5 million viewers through Week 6 of the season, up 2% from the same point last year (18.2M) and officially behind only 2015 (18.7M) and 2010 (18.6M) as the highest six-week average in the Nielsen people-meter era.
The season-to-date average is actually lower than the prior week (18.8M) -- which was the highest at that point of the season on record -- but viewership is now pacing further ahead of last year than at any point this season.
Featuring one of the best-known women's basketball players in Angel Reese, and airing on NBC for the first time in 24 years, the WNBA Finals opened at a viewership high.
Saturday's Dream-Valkyries WNBA Finals Game 1 averaged a combined 2.06 million viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience (1.0 rating, 1.76M viewers) and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics, officially making it the most-watched Game 1 of a Finals series. (If one counts the inaugural, single-elimination Finals in 1997 as a "Game 1," then this year's opener ranks second behind 2.85 million for Comets-Liberty.)
On one of the most memorable college football Saturdays in recent memory, the SEC took a rare backseat behind its "power four" rivals.
Saturday's Ohio State-Indiana college football game averaged 10.38 million viewers on FOX "Big Noon Saturday," marking the largest audience of the season on the network, and the fourth-largest overall -- trailing only Ohio State-Texas in week two (13.99M), Georgia-Alabama last week (12.24M) and LSU-Mississippi in week three (10.90M), each on ABC.
The Buckeyes' narrow win, which peaked with 14.27 million in the 3:30 PM ET quarter-hour, increased 97% from Ohio State-Illinois in the same window last year (5.28M).
"Thursday Night Football" viewership continues to grow.
The latest edition of NFL "Thursday Night Football" (Seahawks-Broncos) averaged 16.26 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, including local over-the-air simulcasts in the home markets -- officially marking most-watched Week 6 edition of the series on record. Viewership increased 1% from the previous high, set by Eagles-Giants last season (16.09M).
It was the second-straight edition of "TNF" to rank as the most-watched on record in its respective week, after Buccaneers-Cowboys delivered its top Week 5 audience.
The Brewers and Dodgers produced a second-straight NLCS sweep, but the result was far different on the field -- and in the ratings -- than a year ago.
The four-game Brewers-Dodgers National League Championship Series averaged 7.53 million viewers across FOX and FS1, up 60% from last year's series between the same two teams, which averaged 4.72 million on TBS and truTV. Unlike last year, when the Dodgers swept the Brewers as expected, this year's series saw Milwaukee defy any most expectations and sweep two-time defending champion Los Angeles.
Despite missing out on some of the biggest games, ESPN still managed to have its most-watched WNBA Playoffs.
ESPN averaged 1.4 million viewers for WNBA playoff coverage this season, up 23% from last year prior to the Finals (1.1M) and the company's highest average on record at this point of the postseason. Unlike previous years, when all WNBA playoff games aired on the ESPN networks, coverage this year also aired on NBCUniversal, USA Network and Prime Video.
Viewers were clearly ready for the Dodgers to face a challenge, and the Brewers delivered -- perhaps too well.
Through three games, the Brewers-Dodgers National League Championship Series was averaging 7.98 million viewers across FOX and FS1 -- officially ranking as the most-watched LCS through three games since Angels-Yankees on FOX in 2009, and the most-watched NLCS since Cardinals-Mets on FOX in 2006.
Wednesday's Game 3 averaged 6.74 million across FS1 (6.46M) and Fox Deportes, the most-watched Game 3 of an LCS since Dodgers-Cubs on the same networks in 2016 (6.76M).
After digging a rare double-digit hole in Week 1, NFL viewership has now pulled ahead of last year through Week 5.
NFL regular season windows were averaging 18.8 million viewers across TV and digital platforms through Week 5, up 1% from last year to rank as the highest at this point of the season on record. The season opened with a 13% decline in Week 1, with that narrowing to 4% after Week 2 and 2% after Week 3.
The SMX World Championship Series, including the indoor AMA Supercross Championship and outdoor Pro Motocross Championship, averaged 614,000 viewers on NBC across a Nielsen-measured linear audience and streaming viewership tracked by Adobe Analytics — up 17% from last year.
Nielsen has reprocessed the viewership for NBC’s four NFL games from Week 1-3 of the season. The Patriots-Seahawks Kickoff Game has been updated to 25.2 million, up from an originally-reported 25.1 million. The Week 1 Cowboys-Giants “Sunday Night Football” game has been updated to 25.82 million, up from 25.66 million. Colts-Chiefs the following week has been updated to 24.43 million, up from 24.29 million. Finally, Rams-Broncos in Week 3 has been updated to 20.96 million, up from 20.77 million.
A pair of titanic SEC rivalries helped ABC win another top-heavy college football Saturday, while FOX "Big Noon Saturday" finally showed life after several low-wattage weeks.
Saturday's Georgia-Alabama college football game averaged 12.24 million viewers on ABC, trailing only Ohio State-Texas on ABC in week two (13.99M) as the most-watched game of the season. The Bulldogs' win, which peaked with 13.8 million, delivered the sixth-largest regular season audience on the ESPN networks in the past decade, with three of the top ten coming in just the first six weeks this season.
With the Brewers expected to pose a greater challenge than last year -- and thus far succeeding -- the sequel of last year's NLCS got off to a far better start.
Airing immediately following NFL coverage, Sunday's Dodgers-Brewers National League Championship Series Game 1 averaged 10.72 million viewers across FOX (10.6M) and Fox Deportes -- marking the most-watched Game 1 of an LCS since Angels-White Sox in 2005 (15.01M) and most-watched Game 1 of an NLCS since Marlins-Cubs in 2003 (15.57M).
Last Wednesday’s Liberty-Dream WNBA semifinal Game 2 averaged 1.4 million viewers on ESPN, down from Mercury-Lynx in the comparable window last year (1.5M). Last year’s games took place earlier in the calendar and did not face the MLB Postseason.
Atlanta’s win, which peaked with 1.9 million, is one of only seven total semifinal games to average at least 1.4 million viewers — joining all five games of last year’s Fever-Aces series and the aforementioned Mercury-Lynx Game 2. The best-of-five semifinal debuted in 2016, replacing a best-of-three conference final round.
The other WNBA semifinal Game 2 (Valkyries-Aces) aired on Peacock and NBCSN, figures for which are generally not publicized.
The MLB American League Division Series was averaging 3.4 million viewers on TNT Sports through Thursday, up 2% from last year’s ALDS on Fox Sports. Last Thursday’s Guardians-White Sox Game 4 averaged 3.8 million opposite NFL “Thursday Night Football,” on par with Brewers-Cubs in the same window last year.
Game 3 the previous day averaged 2.7 million, up from Mariners-Tigers on FS1 in the equivalent window last year (2.5M). That led into the clinching Rays-Yankees Game 3 at 4.5 million, down from Blue Jays-Yankees on FS1 last year (5.0M).
Figures for Saturday’s White Sox-Guardians Game 5 were delayed, along with the other weekend figures.
The Dallas Cowboys remain an embarrassment of riches for the NFL's media partners, helping "Thursday Night Football" record its best Week 5 audience.
The latest edition of NFL "Thursday Night Football" (Buccaneers-Cowboys) averaged 16.73 million viewers on Prime Video, including local over-the-air simulcasts in the home markets -- officially the largest audience on record for "TNF" in Week 5 of the season. The previous high was 16.54 million for Vikings-Packers on CBS and NFL Network in 2014.
The lights were less bright in Week 4 of the NFL season.
The latest edition of NFL "Monday Night Football" (Falcons-Saints) averaged 11.9 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, including local over-the-air simulcasts in the home markets -- down 8% from the average for ESPN-only games last season (12.9M).
There is no apples-to-apples comparison to Week 4 last year, when "MNF" featured an overlapping doubleheader of Jets-Dolphins on ESPN (8.5 million, not including over-the-air simulcasts) and Bengals-Broncos on ABC (13.2M).
Leave a Reply