Ratings Roundup: TSN’s Raptors Game 7 Win Earns Record Overnight; NBCSN Sees Big NHL, Premier League Audiences
Story Highlights
The Toronto Raptors’ Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat is the most-watched basketball game ever on TSN (according to overnight data from Numeris), as the game attracted a record average audience of 1.5 million viewers. Game 7 was the most-watched program on Canadian television yesterday, with audience levels peaking at 2.7 million viewers late in the fourth quarter as the Raptors secured the decisive 116-89 victory on their home court. Game 7 was also the most-watched program of the day in the Greater Toronto Area, achieving a 36.9% share.
Overall, the Raptors’ Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Miami Heat attracted a record average audience for any NBA PLAYOFFS series on TSN, with an average of 1.25 million viewers. The average audience breakdown for the Raptors’ Second Round series on TSN is as follows: Game 1: Miami @ Toronto – 992,000 viewers; Game 4: Toronto @ Miami – 1.2 million viewers; Game 5: Miami @ Toronto – 1.3 million viewers; Game 7: Miami @ Toronto – 1.5 million viewers…
…NBCUniversal scored a ratings record for yesterday’s “Championship Sunday” programming. Sunday’s schedule featured live Premier League matches on 10 different NBCUniversal television networks, as well as one match apiece on Spanish-language networks TELEMUNDO and NBC UNIVERSO. The matches – featuring Manchester City virtually clinching a Champions League spot with a 1-1 tie against Swansea City on NBC – posted a combined 1.57 metered market rating (10 a.m. -Noon ET) on the 10 English-language networks, according to The Nielsen Company. The combined 1.57 overnight is up 10% from last year’s coverage (1.43).
NBC Sports Live Extra – NBC Sports Group’s product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets and connected TVs – delivered the most-streamed “Championship Sunday” ever, with 130,000 unique users and 7 million live minutes, up 43% and 100%, respectively, from last season’s “ChampionshipSunday” coverage (10 matches on 5/24/15).
Top local markets for NBCUniversal’s 10-network “Championship Sunday” coverage were Knoxville, Tulsa, West Palm Beach, Baltimore, and Indianapolis…
…NBCSN’s Game 1 presentations of the Western Conference Final on Sunday (San Jose Sharks vs. St. Louis Blues) and the Eastern Conference Final on Friday night (Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Pittsburgh Penguins) delivered the second- and third-best Conference Final Game 1 overnight ratings ever on NBCSN. The two telecasts trail on the Kings-Blackhawks Wesetern Conference Finals matchup on June 1, 2013, which earned a 1.42 overnight rating.
Sunday’s Western Conference Final Game 1 between the Sharks and Blues, in which the Blues defeated the Sharks 2-1, produced a 1.26 overnight rating, second all-time out of 14 Conference Final Game 1s in NBCSN history. The Sharks-Blues 1.26 overnight rating was driven by a 17.4 rating in St. Louis, to rank as the highest-rated Blues game ever on the networks of NBCU in the St. Louis market. The game delivered a 4.5 rating in San Jose to rank as the second-highest rated Sharks conference final game on NBCSN in the market (behind 5/20/11 vs. Vancouver; 4.8).
Friday’s Eastern Conference Final Game 1 between the Lightning and Penguins, in which the Lightning defeated the Penguins 3-1, produced a 1.24 overnight rating to rank third all-time on the network for Conference Final Game 1 matchups. The Lightning-Penguins 1.24 overnight rating was propelled by a 17.9 rating in Pittsburgh and a 7.4 rating in Tampa; NBCSN was the top network overall in both markets during the game.
Round 2 of the 2016 NHL Playoffs, which ended last Thursday, averaged 1.265 million viewers across NBC/NBCSN/USA/CNBC, up 4% from Round 2 coverage in 2015 (1.219 million; 22 games). Across all 70 First and Second Round games on NBC/NBCSN/USA/CNBC, the 2016 NHL Playoffs have averaged 905,000 viewers, up 4% vs. the comparable period of the 2015 NHL Playoffs (873,000; 68 games)…
…TNT’s coverage of Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals (Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors) on Monday and the Inside the NBA post-game show – delivered the top two programs of the night across all of cable television. Game 1 between the Thunder/Warriors on TNT averaged 8.7 million total viewers and a 5.3 U.S. HH rating, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals, to garner the most-viewed program of the night on cable. TNT’s Inside the NBA averaged a 2.8 HH rating, according to Nielsen metered market data, for the second-best program of the night.
TNT’s Thunder/Warriors WCF Game 1 telecast is up 37% in viewers and 33% in U.S. HH rating when compared with 2014, the last time the network televised the Western Conference Finals (Oklahoma City vs. San Antonio). Last night’s WCF Game 1 is up 27% in viewers and 20% in U.S. HH rating over last year’s NBA Eastern Conference Finals coverage airing on TNT (Cleveland vs. Atlanta). This year’s coverage of the WCF Game 1 also generated double-digit audience growth across all key demos. Monday night’s Thunder/Warriors telecast peaked with an average of 10.6 million viewers and a 6.4 U.S. HH rating from 11:15-11:30 P.M. ET. Overall, the game telecast is the most viewed and highest rated Conference Finals Game 1 airing on the network since 2011 (ECF Game 1 between the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls).
The top rated local markets for Thunder/Warriors – San Francisco (23.4 HH rating); Oklahoma City (21.5); Sacramento (12.0); Tulsa and Cleveland (11.1).
Turner’s TV Everywhere platforms generated an all-time best 766,000 uniques for last night’s WCF Game 1, up 677% over last year. Live streams for the game were up 597%, with minutes consumed up +235% when compared to the comparable coverage in 2015. Additionally, content published via NBA on TNT’s Facebook and Twitter accounts generated 27 million impressions yesterday, +81% over last year. Further, Turner’s accounts drove more than two million video views, +20% over the first day of Eastern Conference Finals coverage last year…
…The NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING Southern Nationals from Atlanta Dragway delivered an average audience of 1,367,000 viewers on FS1, making it the most-watched NHRA event since at least 2002 and more than double last year’s event that aired in prime time (520,000). The NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES, which has enjoyed year-to-year viewership increases in five of its seven events in 2016, delivered 377,000 viewers in the A18-49 demo, a 390% increase from 2015’s 77,000. Race coverage led FS1 to the top spot among all cable sports networks in viewers and A18-49 between 5:15-8:15 PM ET…
…Earlier on Sunday, the NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES race from Dover scored 3,985,000 viewers, up 1% over last year’s race (3,940,000) and good for the 11th most-watched telecast in FS1 history and the third most-watched motor sports event ever on the network behind two Cup races from Martinsville. All three NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES points races that have aired on FS1 this season (Martinsville, Kansas and Dover) have scored year-to-year viewership increases. Sprint Cup coverage led FS1 to the top spot among all cable and broadcast networks in viewers and all cable networks in A18-49 between 1:00-5:00 PM ET. On FOX Sports GO, the telecast delivered 62,264 streams, 21,233 unique streamers, and 1,126,787 minutes streamed.
FS1’s popular pre-race show, NASCAR RACEDAY, tallied 1,056,000 viewers, up 13% from last year’s Dover RaceDay…
…Univision Deportes’ Súper Clásico Liga MX quarterfinals telecasts last week reached 7.8 million Total Viewers 2+ between both matches.
The second leg of the Súper Clásico between América and Chivas aired Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on Univision Network with a simulcast on UDN and averaged 2.7 million Total Viewers 2+ and 1.6 million Adults 18-49. Viewership was the best for any Liga MX playoff match since the 2014 Apertura Final on Univision Network. The audience is larger than every NHL playoff game in the current 2015-16 season across all networks, regardless of language.
The first leg of the Súper Clásico aired Thursday at 9:30 p.m. on UDN and averaged 1.4 million Total Viewers 2+ and 924,000 Adults 18-49. Performance was best for any club soccer match in cable history on any network, regardless of language. The match delivered the most streams and minutes watched of any Liga MX game in UCI history, regular season or playoffs…
… Final round coverage of The Players Championship had a 3.1 overnight rating on NBC Sunday afternoon, down 21% from last year (3.9) but up 19% from 2014 (2.6). The 3.1 is tied as the third-lowest for the final round of the tournament since at least 1998, matching 2006 and ahead of only 2005 and 2014 (2.6 both years). (SMW)
… ESPN’s Saturday tip-off of the 2016 WNBA season delivered the best audience for a WNBA regular-season game on the ESPN networks (excluding ABC) since 2001, with an average of 505,000 viewers. The 7:30 p.m. ET telecast between the Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury posted a 0.3 household rating…
… ABC on Saturday afternoon drew a 0.8 overnight rating for the Verizon IndyCar Series Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, a slight uptick from a 0.7 for the race last year. The inaugural road race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in ’14 drew a 0.9 overnight. (SBD)
