Ratings Roundup: PBC on NBC Nets Best Boxing Broadcast Audience in 17 Years

Saturday night’s debut of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC was the most-watched professional boxing broadcast since 1998, according to Fast National Data from The Nielsen Company. The PBC on NBC telecast averaged 3.4 million viewers, ranking as the most-watched professional boxing broadcast in 17 years (“Oscar De La Hoya’s Fight Night” on FOX, 5.9 million, Mon., March 23, 1998).

Viewership increased every half hour through the telecast and peaked at 4.2 million from 10:30-11 p.m. ET during the exciting Rounds 7-12 of Keith Thurman’s unanimous decision over Robert Guerrero. The PBC on NBC also led NBC to a Saturday primetime victory among Adults 18-49, with a 1.08 rating in the demographic. Saturday night’s telecast (8:30-11 p.m. ET) posted a 2.11/4 fast national rating – up 174% from the average boxing telecast on NBC from 2012-14 (.77). It is also the highest-rated professional boxing broadcast since the ’98 De La Hoya show on FOX (4.29).

More than 575,000 minutes (576,435) of PBC on NBC coverage was live streamed via NBC Sports Live Extra to desktops, tablets and mobile devices – ranking as the third-best Saturday night this year behind the NFL Wild Card Playoff (Jan. 3, 2015) and the NHL Stadium Series game (Feb. 21, 2015). On social media, #NBCBoxing trended on Twitter worldwide throughout the telecast, along with #PBConNBC, boxers’ names and other key terms trending on the national level…

With the full weight of its parent company behind it, NBC Sports’ inaugural debut of the PBC on NBC notched a 2.53/5 in early Nielsen numbers, according to NBC. That ranked as the highest-rated sporting event from 9-11p (with a 2.67) on Saturday and led the network to a broadcast primetime victory among Adults 18-49. Top markets included: Norfolk 5.5/8; Cincinnati 4.9/10; San Antonio 4.8/9; New Orleans 4.3/7; and Ft. Myers 3.9/7…

…Major League Soccer’s four opening weekend national TV games had strong ratings. Sunday’s inaugural match between expansion clubs Orlando City SC and New York City FC on ESPN2 averaged 539,000 viewers during the broadcast, over 100,000 more than any regular season match on the network last year.

Fox Sports 1 also put up solid numbers, averaging 268,000 viewers for Sunday’s 1-1 draw between Sporting Kansas City and the New York Red Bulls before drawing a 289,000 average in the Seattle Sounders-New England Revolution nightcap. Both games marked a huge improvement on NBCSN’s 2014 average of 141,000 viewers per broadcast.

UniMas’ broadcast of Friday’s season opener between the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire drew an average of 341,000 viewers for the 10 pm ET kick. The match – which included an English SAP option – outdrew NBCSN’s 2014 season opener and was the most-viewed MLS match ever among non-Hispanics on a Spanish-language network…

…TSN kicked off the 2015 MLS season with a record audience tuning in to Saturday’s matchup between Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Toronto FC. Overnight data from Numeris (BBM Canada) confirms an average audience of 353,000 viewers tuned in to see the all-Canadian matchup, making it the most-watched MLS game in TSN history. Overall, 1.9 million unique viewers tuned in to MLS ON TSN to watch some or all of the network’s exclusive coverage of the game.

…Sunday’s Liverpool/Blackburn match in FA Cup action on Fox Sports 1 notched 506,000 viewers, making it the most-watched FA Cup match on English language cable since at least 2008. In addition, Monday’s elimination of Manchester United by Arsenal in the FA Cup scored 402,000 viewers making it the most-watched weekday FA Cup match on cable since at least 2008. Finally, Tuesday saw the Read Madrid victory over Schalke notch 471,000 viewers, for a 30% markup above the Arsenal-Bayern Munich match on the corresponding Tuesday last year. (Cynopsis Sports)…

…FOX Sports’ UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and UEFA Europa League Round of 32 last week saw big numbers. On Tuesday, FS1’s Barcelona/Manchester City game drew 779,000 viewers to the channel, to mark the biggest audience for a UEFA Champions League match on cable since 2009. FOX Deportes’ coverage of the match was the top Spanish-language sports program for the day with 425,000 total viewers. Thursday’s doubleheader of the UEFA Europa League drew 159,000 viewers and 109,000 among the Adults 18-49 demographic, making it the most-watched Europa League match in FOX Sports 1 history in both metrics…

…UniMas’ Liga MX coverage of Guadalajara/Monterrey was the most-viewed soccer match of the week across all networks regardless of language, delivering 1.3 million Total Viewers 2+ and 761,000 Adults 18-49. Liga MX is averaging 303,000 Total Viewers 2+ and 179,000 Adults 18-49 per game this season…

…The Sprint US Grand Prix last weekend on NBC, saw a 20% markup over last year’s Grand Prix ahead of the Sochi Olympics to claim the highest rating of any winter action sports series. Meanwhile, the International Ski Federation World Cup also saw over 60 nations tune in worldwide. (Cynopsis Sports)…

…FOX Sports saw Saturday’s Monster Energy Supercross race at Daytona score 590,000 viewers, making it the most-watched supercross telecast on FOX Sports 1 since launch (also 288,000 viewers in the A18-49)…

…Sunday’s 2015 TIM HORTONS BRIER Final drew a big audience for TSN, attracting an average audience of 1.25 million viewers according to overnight data. Audiences were up 40% compared to last year and marked the highest-rated Final since 2011. The game peaked at 2 million viewers at 10:30 p.m. ET, as Simmons drew the button with his final stone to win the championship in the 11th end. Overall, the network attracted an average audience of 587,000 viewers throughout the 2015 TIM HORTONS BRIER – marking a 29% increase compared to last year. In total, 7.5 million unique Canadian viewers watched some part of the tournament on TSN.