Sports TV ratings, etc. Random sports talk

FLRacingFan said:
Through 42 games, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are averaging 769k viewers.
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Wow, with the playoff boost, hockey viewers might surpass what Nascar gets for Xfinity practice or qualifying, unlike the regular season NHL numbers posted last week. While hockey enjoys all of the advantages that come from being mainstream, it surprises me that the TV audience is pretty small.

All motorsports are niche, not mainstream, and always have been (except for a brief spell when Nascar became a cultural fad similar to the Urban Cowboy craze of the 1980s). I'm good with that... I don't need millions of others to validate what I enjoy. If that makes me "easily entertained" and a "minion of Brian France" as the trolls on here like to say, I'm OK with that too.

But the small numbers for NHL are comforting in one way. When I look forward to Supercross or MotoGP or IndyCar or F1 or other small audience racing... it will be there on TV despite not having millions of viewers. Sure beats the old days of searching the tiny type buried under minor league box scores to see if Mario Andretti had won the F1 world driving championship! As a fan of racing for over 50 years, I'm happy that NHL fans can watch that, and happy I can watch dirt late models or Nascar trucks or Formula E.
 
Warriors stay atop local television ratings
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/04/23/Media/NBA-ratings.aspx
The Golden State Warriors posted the NBA’s highest local TV ratings for a third consecutive season, pacing a league that rebounded from a double-digit local ratings decline last season.


Warriors games on NBC Sports Bay Area averaged an 8.36 rating, a figure that is down 4 percent from last season. Cleveland Cavaliers games on FS Ohio placed second with a 7.98 rating (up 8 percent), followed by Oklahoma City Thunder games on FS Oklahoma with a 7.05 rating (up 7 percent).

Overall, the NBA’s local television ratings rose 3 percent during the 2017-18 season, reversing last season’s 14 percent local ratings slide.

The jump mirrors the NBA’s national TV partners that saw viewership rise 8 percent to a combined average of 1.28 million viewers, the best since the 2013-14 season. Viewership on ABC was up 17 percent from last year, with TNT up 13 percent, ESPN up 4 percent and NBA TV up 1 percent.

SportsBusiness Journal analyzed ratings data for 28 teams across the NBA. Information for Memphis and Utah was not available. Of the 28 teams, 10 were down, 17 were up and one was flat.

The NBA’s best ratings story is in Minnesota where the Timberwolves, making their first playoff appearance since 2004, saw their ratings on FS North jump 76 percent, the league’s highest jump. The Boston Celtics, bolstered by its trade for All-Star Kyrie Irving, saw a 44 percent ratings increase.

Milwaukee Bucks games on FS Wisconsin and Wizards games on NBC Sports Washington posted their highest TV ratings in more than 12 years.

The 28-54 Brooklyn Nets had the lowest local rating for the fourth consecutive season with a 0.38 rating on the YES Network.

The Atlanta Hawks, with the Eastern Conference-worst record of 24-58, saw the biggest percentage ratings drop of 53 percent, the team’s lowest mark since the 2006-07 season.
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Penguins find their way back to top of local ratings
https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/04/23/Media/NHL-ratings.aspx
The NHL has a new local TV ratings king. It looks a lot like the league’s old local TV ratings king.


After a two-year respite, Pittsburgh Penguins games on AT&T Pittsburgh are the league’s highest again, as the team’s 5.81 rating beat out Buffalo Sabres games on MSG (4.62 rating). The Sabres had been the NHL’s top-rated club the previous two seasons but finished this season with the NHL’s worst record and registered a 26 percent decrease from last year.

The Penguins were tops for six straight years before that. Penguins ratings are down 2 percent this year, which marked the team’s lowest-rated season since 2006-07.

The Penguins’ ratings drop was typical for a league that saw an overall 10 percent local drop. SportsBusiness Journal analyzed ratings data from 22 of the NHL’s 23 U.S.-based clubs; information on Carolina was not available. Overall, 13 of those 22 teams monitored posted ratings drops from last season; nine saw an increase.

The Vegas Golden Knights had a 1.87 rating on AT&T Rocky Mountain in the team’s inaugural season.

The NHL’s best local TV ratings news came in Nashville, riding the wave of the Predators’ run to the Stanley Cup Final last season. The Predators saw a 163 percent increase year-over-year, with a 2.1 rating on FS Tennessee. Tampa Bay Lightning games on FS Sun saw an increase of 19 percent, the team’s fourth straight year of a local TV ratings increase.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings both hit low-water marks for NBC Sports Chicago and FS Detroit. This season marked the Blackhawks’ lowest-rated season since 2008-09 when the team had a 1.06 rating. The Red Wings’ 1.51 rating on FS Detroit was the team’s lowest in at least 12 seasons and the fifth straight year the team has posted declining ratings.
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PGA up again this past weekend at San Antonio: http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2018/04/cavs-pacers-ratings-pga-fa-cup-racing/

Last Sunday’s final round of the PGA Tour Texas Open earned a 1.5 rating and 2.27 million viewers on CBS, up 15% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year (1.9, 2.00M) and flat and up 2% respectively from 2016 (1.5, 2.22M). It was the most-watched round of the tournament since 2013 (2.5M).

Third round action on last Saturday pulled a 1.1 (+16%) and 1.6 million (+17%), marking the event’s largest third round audience since 2015 (1.9M).

Thirteen of the past 14 PGA rounds on broadcast television have hit a multi-year high in ratings and/or viewership, including the last eight straight. For the season, 20 of 26 windows have hit a high.

Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel had a 0.33 (+14%) and 482,000 (+25%) last Saturday and a 0.37 (+8%) and 599,000 (+7%) last Sunday.
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I see that the Johnsonville Cornhole Championships are on ESPN2 again tonight. I wonder what kind of numbers these pull in, and how it compares to the Weber Pro Lawn Darts Series and the Milwaukee's Best Full Contact Extreme Croquet League.
 
StandOnIt said:
here is one at the first pitch. dang that is scary
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You left out the part that our baseball team sucks mud. That and we're having a tough time seeing the north side of 40 degrees this time of year for some GD reason. Bad team and bad weather along with a successful hockey franchise will only bring out the deadest of diehards to PNC Park.
 
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2018/04/cavs-pacers-game-7-nba-ratings-abc/

Cavs’ Game 7 Win Posts Top First Round Overnight Since 2004
By PAULSEN April 30, 2018 No Comments
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Even in an early timeslot, a Game 7 involving LeBron James is as good as it gets for NBA ratings.

Sunday’s Pacers-Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 7 earned a 5.4 overnight rating on ABC, up 69% from last year (Wizards-Celtics Game 1: 3.2) and up 74% from 2016 (Hornets-Heat Game 7: 3.1). Compared to last year’s first round Game 7 on ABC, Jazz-Clippers in a later timeslot, overnights jumped 29% from a 4.2.

Cleveland’s narrow win, which peaked at a 7.4 from 3:30-3:45 PM ET, delivered the highest first round NBA playoff overnight in 15 years — since Lakers-Rockets Game 4 in 2004 (5.8). The previous high was a 5.3 for multiple games.

The 5.4 is the third-highest first round overnight since the NBA expanded to a best-of-seven format in 2003, behind Lakers-Rockets in ’04 and Game 7 of Blazers-Mavericks in 2003 (6.1).

It also tied the NBA’s highest overnight in an early afternoon window — prior to 2:00 PM ET — since 2000 (Heat-Knicks Game 4: 5.6), matching Celtics-Sixers Game 3 in 2002.

For the season, Game 7 ranks just a tick behind Cavaliers-Warriors on Christmas Day (5.5) as the highest rated NBA telecast in the metered markets.

Locally, the game pulled a 24.6 rating in Cleveland, the market’s highest first round rating in eight years. Indianapolis turned in a 21.6, not only the market’s highest first round rating on record, but within three tenths of Pacers-Heat Game 7 in the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals (21.9).

Aided by the big lead-in, Game 1 of the Jazz-Rockets semifinal had a 4.4 overnight later in the day — up 5% from last year (Jazz-Clippers Game 7: 4.2) but down 12% from 2016 (Blazers-Warriors Game 1: 5.0).
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One thing I'm discovering that I didn't know is that NBA ratings were apparently good in the early 2000s? I watched a lot in that era, but I thought it was considered a down period for the league. Post-Jordan, low-scoring, too rough, etc.
 
StandOnIt said:
Prime time Saturday night
View attachment 34589
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-saturday-april-28-2018/
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I'm assuming "Motorcycle Racing" was ME Supercross?

Depending on how the finals shake out, that PBC on FOX might be the lowest-rated and least-watched primetime fight card on broadcast television. Last July a PBC on FOX program got a 0.6/886k. It is also tragically low for primetime broadcast sports in general. Some international soccer matches have gotten in that range before.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/201...ratings-low-figueroa-guerrero-viewership-fox/
 
StandOnIt said:
Prime time Saturday night
View attachment 34589
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/tv-ratings-saturday-april-28-2018/
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Are those numbers for the 8 o'clock hour 1.84 million, 2.56 million, 2.31 million & .71 million? Obviously there are a lot more than those four networks broadcasting at that time of the night but man, in a country with a population north of 320 million, there sure are a lot of people not watching television..... period. If I were forced to guess, I would have thought a much larger slice of population would be watching television at that given hour. I guess I need to get out more.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Are those numbers for the 8 o'clock hour 1.84 million, 2.56 million, 2.31 million & .71 million? Obviously there are a lot more than those four networks broadcasting at that time of the night but man, in a country with a population north of 320 million, there sure are a lot of people not watching television..... period. If I were forced to guess, I would have thought a much larger slice of population would be watching television at that given hour. I guess I need to get out more.
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this is from the article :idunno:

Broadcast primetime live + same-day ratings for Saturday, April 28, 2018


Here is one from Wednesday previous, has the rust belt playoffs listed. It has 25 cable shows

Top 25 original cable shows among adults 18-49 for Wednesday, April 25, 2018

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/wednesday-cable-ratings-april-25-2018/



 
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dpkimmel2001 said:
Are those numbers for the 8 o'clock hour 1.84 million, 2.56 million, 2.31 million & .71 million? Obviously there are a lot more than those four networks broadcasting at that time of the night but man, in a country with a population north of 320 million, there sure are a lot of people not watching television..... period. If I were forced to guess, I would have thought a much larger slice of population would be watching television at that given hour. I guess I need to get out more.
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Saturday night might be even worse than Friday night for TV. At least until college football rolls around. But I'll still be watching Kansas next Saturday night...maybe I need to get out more too.
 
Friday and Saturday night are neck-and-neck for the lowest nights of overall TV viewership, sometimes switching back and forth. The order from most viewers to least is:

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Saturday
Friday

See a pattern?

Supercross has low viewership overall and is very niche, but it is a younger audience. Generally you can expect close to half of the audience to be in the 18-49 bracket, which is high. This is probably why they land any races on Fox network TV, because those overall numbers are tiny.
 
Kinda surprising to me...Golf Channel beats out the likes of MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network to take the #1 single-sports network for the third straight month.






 
Why I think they need to start the playoffs from opening day. That gimmick is working for stick n ball.
 
This deal seems to be for 10 events on ESPN cable plus 20 events on ESPN's new streaming service. I wonder if ESPN can do more with UFC than FS1 did?? I guess Fox is putting their eggs in the WWE basket instead.

Regardless of which network, ratings of both UFC and WWE will be the same in my home (zero) as no one here has an appetite for these programs. UFC was sold in 2016 for $4 billion to William Morris Endeavor, whatever that is. I note that WME also owns the Miss Universe pageant, which makes me wonder if synergies between UFC and Miss Universe might be, uh, ripe for the picking? :oops:

ESPN to broadcast 30 UFC events per year during 5-year deal

ESPN and the UFC have agreed to a new five-year deal that will bring the mixed-martial arts league's entire rights package from Fox Sports to ESPN, according to ESPN and multiple reports.

This new agreement, expected to be announced later Wednesday morning, follows a deal announced earlier this month between ESPN and UFC. The entire package will cost $1.5 billion over five years. ( Link )
 
LewTheShoe said:
This deal seems to be for 10 events on ESPN cable plus 20 events on ESPN's new streaming service. I wonder if ESPN can do more with UFC than FS1 did?? I guess Fox is putting their eggs in the WWE basket instead.

Regardless of which network, ratings of both UFC and WWE will be the same in my home (zero) as no one here has an appetite for these programs. UFC was sold in 2016 for $4 billion to William Morris Endeavor, whatever that is. I note that WME also owns the Miss Universe pageant, which makes me wonder if synergies between UFC and Miss Universe might be, uh, ripe for the picking? :oops:

ESPN to broadcast 30 UFC events per year during 5-year deal

ESPN and the UFC have agreed to a new five-year deal that will bring the mixed-martial arts league's entire rights package from Fox Sports to ESPN, according to ESPN and multiple reports.

This new agreement, expected to be announced later Wednesday morning, follows a deal announced earlier this month between ESPN and UFC. The entire package will cost $1.5 billion over five years. ( Link )
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Sounds too expensive to me but I don’t know **** about UFC. Anyone know what they were getting before from FOX?
 
FLRacingFan said:
Sounds too expensive to me but I don’t know sh!t about UFC. Anyone know what they were getting before from FOX?
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Roughly $100 million annually, but that was signed an age ago in terms of that sport's status. Still, I tend to agree that ESPN overpaid, and that Fox was quite business savvy this time to jump in with WWE instead. I also know next to nothing about UFC, but even just as a general sports fan, doesn't it feel like UFC / MMA has already peaked and there isn't the wild growth potential that perhaps seemed possible 2-3 years ago?

I guess it all depends on whether UFC content is something that drives significant subscriber growth for ESPN+. That streaming service is clearly a huge priority for ESPN and is viewed as the future of the company, and big time sports leagues willing to be placed there currently are few and far between.
 




Ratings for Game 1 down marginally from last year and 2016. There likely is some fatigue, combined with a feeling that the Warriors winning is inevitable. Still higher numbers than the matchups that preceded the Cavs / Warriors era.
 
gnomesayin said:




Ratings for Game 1 down marginally from last year and 2016. There likely is some fatigue, combined with a feeling that the Warriors winning is inevitable. Still higher numbers than the matchups that preceded the Cavs / Warriors era.
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Ol stick n ball poster boy Karp. If he was writing his weekly Nascar rant, he would have declining percentages and the lowest in three years and anything else he could dig up. .
 
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