From Sports Media Watch, a one-stop page for sports ratings news.
Like the Masters last month, the second major of the golf season delivered another multi-year high in both ratings and viewership.
Sunday's final round of the PGA Championship averaged a 3.1 rating and 5.76 million viewers on CBS, up 24% in ratings and 21% in viewership from last year (2.5, 4.76M) and the most-watched final round of the tournament since Phil Mickelson won five years ago (6.58M).
Aaron Rai's win, which peaked with 8.02 million viewers and averaged 7.83 million over the final hour, also tied 2022 as the highest rated final round since Mickelson's win (3.9).
The new Nielsen "Big Data + Panel" era has corresponded with record audiences but no shortage of detractors, and now one of the biggest sports properties is shifting away from the methodology.
NASCAR will no longer report Nielsen "Big Data + Panel" figures for its races, returning to the "panel-only" methodology that had been the currency until September of last year, its Senior Vice President/Broadcasting & Innovation Brian Herbst told Sports Media Watch Tuesday. The news was first reported by Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal on Monday.
The final NASCAR Cup Series points race on Fox Sports this season — Watkins Glen last Sunday — averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.93 million viewers, the least-watched race of the season thus far. (Bristol had 1.945 million last month.) Viewership declined 17% from last year’s equivalent Kansas race (2.32M).
The corresponding Xfinity Series race drew 1.01 million on CW; there was no equivalent race last year.
Welcome back to "The Needle," a ratings-focused column on Sports Media Watch that will break down the numbers, attempt to put some context behind the data, and discuss broader trends in measurement and television viewing.
Milestone might be an overstatement, but it is certainly notable that the only Game 7 in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, and the only NBA game of the weekend, will air on Amazon Prime Video Sunday night. Not on NBC or ABC, the two over-the-air broadcast networks that regularly carry games on Sundays.
The new WNBA season opened with another milestone audience, if not quite at the level of last year's.
Last weekend's Wings-Fever WNBA opening weekend game averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.49 million viewers on ABC, down from Sky-Fever last year (2.70M), but still the league's fourth-largest audience -- including the playoffs and All-Star Game -- since 2000.
(Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is mere months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with "Big Data" from smart TVs and set-top boxes.
The San Antonio Spurs were a ratings drag during the days of Tim Duncan, but the Victor Wembanyama era promises to be the opposite.
Sunday's Spurs-Timberwolves second round NBA playoff Game 4 averaged a combined 7.9 million viewers across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, trailing only Sixers-Celtics Game 7 on NBC following the Kentucky Derby (10.99M) as the most-watched game of the ongoing NBA Playoffs.
The last non-clinching early round game to average as large an audience was Warriors-Lakers Game 3 on ABC in 2023, a matchup pitting LeBron James and Stephen Curry (8.37M).
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Texas averaged a 1.3 rating and 2.29 million viewers on FS1 last weekend, down a tick and 11% respectively from last year (1.4, 2.56M).
The corresponding O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race there averaged a 0.6 and 1.11 million on CW, flat in ratings and up 11% in viewership from last year and the highest for the race since it aired on FOX in 2018.
Tuesday’s Lakers-Thunder second round NBA playoff Game 1 averaged 6.8 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen (5.3M) and Adobe Analytics, up a third from a Nielsen-only 5.1 million for Warriors-Timberwolves on TNT an truTV last year.
The Thunder’s win, which peaked with 8.2 million, delivered the third-largest audience of the postseason thus far.
On Monday night, the Knicks’ Game 1 rout of the Sixers averaged 6.3 million (4.93M per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics) — up 28% from Knicks-Celtics on TNT Sports last year (4.88M).
Both nights, NBCU carried a second game that aired on Peacock and was not Nielsen-rated (Timberwolves-Spurs on Monday, Cavaliers-Pistons on Tuesday).
On Wednesday night, ESPN averaged 5.2 million for Sixers-Knicks Game 2 and 4.7 million for Timberwolves-Spurs Game 2 — up 13 and 24 percent respectively from last year’s equivalent TNT Sports doubleheader of Knicks-Celtics (4.6M) and Nuggets-Thunder (3.8M).
The NHL set a new viewership mark in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it does not appear that the good times are ending.
The opening round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN's cable networks and TNT Sports, up 68% from last year and officially the highest average on record for the first round of the postseason. Viewership increased 29% from the previous high, an average of 936,000 on the NBC family of networks in 2012.
If a bit off-pace out of the gate, the first round of the NBA Playoffs quickly pulled ahead of last year, surging down the stretch and closing strong following the Kentucky Derby.
Airing immediately after the most-watched Kentucky Derby on record, Saturday's Sixers-Celtics first round NBA playoff Game 7 averaged 10.99 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen (4.4 rating, 9.24M viewers) and Adobe Analytics (1.8M) -- marking the largest first round NBA playoff audience since the deciding Jazz-Kings Game 5 on NBC in 1999 (11.2M).
Last weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Talladega (Ala.) averaged a 2.1 rating and 3.97 million viewers on FOX, down a tick in ratings and 2% in viewership from last year (2.2, 4.04M). Excluding 2020, when the race was delayed several weeks and then postponed due to rain, Carson Hocevar’s win was the least-watched spring Talladega race since it began airing on FOX in 2001.
The corresponding O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race drew 1.34 million on CW, up 6% from last year. The first 11 races on CW this season have averaged a seven-figure audience.
Viewership milestones are nothing new for the Kentucky Derby, but in the current era of measurement, it is setting those marks by ever-greater lengths.
Saturday's race segment of the Kentucky Derby averaged a combined 19.3 million viewers across Nielsen (7.9 rating, 18.03M viewers) and Adobe Analytics (1.3M), marking the largest audience for the event in the Nielsen people meter era (1989-present), surpassing the longtime record-holder of 18.5 million in 1989. Golden Tempo's win, which peaked with 24.4 million in the 7 PM ET quarter-hour, increased 11% from last year (17.7M).
Monday’s Pistons-Magic first round NBA playoff Game 4 averaged a combined 5.4 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, up 155% from a Nielsen-only audience of 2.1 million for a non-exclusive Cavaliers-Heat Game 4 on TNT Sports last year.
Viewership also increased 15% from Hawks-Knicks Game 2 in the same Monday night NBC window the prior week.
Later in the night, Timberwolves-Nuggets Game 5 averaged 3.9 million — actually down from Rockets-Warriors on TNT Sports last year (4.0M).
On Tuesday night, Hawks-Knicks Game 5 averaged 3.8 million on NBC, the most-watched game on a night that included a competing NBA doubleheader on ESPN. Last year’s closest equivalent window was Magic-Celtics on NBA TV, which was subject to local blackout and averaged 739,000.
After a slight decline for the opening round, viewership for the final two days of the NFL Draft fell further behind last year's Shedeur Sanders-fueled pace.
The complete 2026 NFL Draft averaged a combined 6.6 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network and several digital platforms -- a figure that combines Nielsen, Adobe Analytics and average minute audience data from YouTube, X and TikTok -- down 12% from 7.5 million last year, but officially the third-largest audience on record for the event.
The new NBA media rights deal has already been a boon for the league's playoff viewership.
Through Sunday, the first round of the NBA Playoffs was averaging 3.84 million viewers across NBCUniversal, ESPN/ABC and Amazon's Prime Video (including Adobe Analytics for NBC games), up 20% from last year on ESPN/ABC, TNT and NBA TV, and officially the highest average at this point of the postseason since 1993.
(Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home…
After a strong start, viewership for the Stanley Cup Playoffs has remained hot through the second weekend of play.
The first nine days of the Stanley Cup playoffs averaged 1.1 million viewers across ESPN and TNT Sports, up 82% from the same point of last season and the highest average on record at this point of the postseason. The previous high was set in 1994, when only ten windows aired nationally in the first nine days of play, and the previous high in a postseason where all games aired nationally -- which did not happen for the first time until 2012 -- was 800,000 in 2024.
Coverage of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs was averaging 1.15 million viewers through the first five days, up 76% from last year and the highest average on record at that point of the postseason. This year’s average is up 30% from the previous high of 887,000 in 2012, and up 39% from the previous high during the current media rights deal — 832,000 in 2024.
The opening round of the NFL Draft saw a slight dip in viewership from a year ago.
Last Thursday's opening round of the NFL Draft averaged 13.2 million viewers across ABC, ESPN, NFL Network and several digital platforms -- a figure that combines Nielsen, Adobe Analytics and average minute audience data from YouTube, X and TikTok -- down slightly from 13.6 million last year, when Shedeur Sanders' fall down the draft board was the dominant story.
Welcome back to "The Needle," a ratings-focused column on Sports Media Watch that will break down the numbers, attempt to put some context behind the data, and discuss broader trends in measurement and television viewing.
It was two years ago that Tyler Reddick won at Talladega, marking the first time that a 23/XI driver won a Cup Series race with owner Michael Jordan in attendance.
Heading into this year's Talladega race, Jordan has become a regular sight in victory lane thanks to Reddick's historic start to the season.
After a slight dip for the opening weekend, NBA playoff viewership bounced back in a big way thanks to back-to-back weeknight doubleheaders on primetime broadcast television.
NBCUniversal averaged a combined 4.9 million viewers across Nielsen and Adobe Analytics for its six NBA playoff games through Tuesday, up 38% from last year's equivalent windows, and lifting the overall NBA playoff viewership average to 4.4 million across NBCU, ESPN/ABC and Prime Video -- up 9% from last year on ESPN/ABC and TNT, up 17% from last year including games on NBA TV, and officially the highest average through the first 12 games of the playoffs since 1993.
If off from last year's high, the NBA Playoffs got off to one of its better starts of late in year one of the league's media rights deal.
The opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs averaged 4.3 million viewers across ABC, NBCUniversal and Prime Video (including Adobe Analytics for NBC games), down slightly from last year (4.4M) -- when the games coincided with Easter Sunday and viewership hit a 25-year high -- but the second-most watched opening weekend of the postseason since 2011.
Coming off of a strong regular season, the NHL opened its postseason at an even hotter pace.
The opening weekend of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 1.53 million viewers across ESPN and TNT Sports (seven telecasts), up 81% from last year (five telecasts) and the highest average on record.
Note that Nielsen did not begin including out-of-home viewing in its estimates until 2020, only began doing so in 100 percent of markets a year ago, and is mere months into a new methodology that combines its traditional panel with "Big Data" from smart TVs and set-top boxes.
Chalk it up to a rare 'Olympic bump' -- or not -- but hockey would seem to be enjoying some clear viewership momentum.
The 2025-26 NHL regular season averaged 546,000 viewers across ESPN/ABC and TNT Sports, up 25% from last year and the highest average in more than a decade. The 25% increase is on the high end of a general rise in sports viewership that includes gains of 35% for the NBA, 19% for men's college basketball and 10% for the NFL.
The UFC followed up a good showing on CBS last month with an even better performance last weekend.
Coverage of UFC 327 last Saturday night averaged 2.65 million viewers across a two-hour CBS window that included the final hour of prelims and the first hour of the main card, marking the largest UFC audience on linear TV since UFC on FOX 22 in December 2016 (3.18M). The previous high was 2.47 million for a similar two-hour window on CBS during UFC 326 last month.
Now airing exclusively on streaming service Prime Video, NBA Play-in Tournament viewership is nonetheless trending ahead of last year on cable.
The first two nights of the NBA Play-in Tournament averaged 2.69 million viewers on Amazon Prime Video, up 12% from last year's comparable windows on TNT and ESPN. As is typical for sporting events on streaming services, viewership is up even more among younger viewers, rising 32, 31 and 26 percent respectively in the key adult demographics of 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.
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