Ratings Roundup: World Series Down From 2016, But Still Drawing Big Viewership Numbers

Ratings roundup is a rundown of ratings news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Fox’s first two games of the World Series trail last year’s edition, fueled by the Cubs-Indians matchup, but is still posting the best World Series ratings since 2009 and 2010. In addition, we recap Week 7 of the NFL season and Week 8 of the college football season, the Nets post their best rating on YES in three years, and NBC sees a bump for its Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series coverage over last year. 

World Series Down from 2016, But Still Drawing Big Numbers
Wednesday night’s epic Game 2 of the World Series scored 16.02 million total viewers, making it the most watched World Series Game 2 since 2009. The telecast drew 15.5 million viewers on Fox, 382,000 on Fox Deportes, and 154,015 streaming on Fox Sports Go. Game 2 on Fox was down 11% compared to the Cubs-Indians World Series Game 2 last year (17.4 million), ubt up 13% over Game 2 in 2015 (13.7 million), and up 20% over Game 2 in 2014 (12.9 million). (Fox Sports)…

…Game 1 of the World Series delivered 15.5 million viewers across Fox, Fox Deportes, and Fox Sports Go on Tuesday night, down down 21% from last year’s 19.8 million. The Dodgers Game 1 win over the Astros scored 14.97 million viewers on Fox, 348,000 on Fox Deportes, and the average minute audience of FSGO was 140,314. It marked the second most watched World Series Game 1 since 2010 (trailing only last year’s Cubs-Indians Game 1) and was the the most watched primetime telecast on Fox since Super Bowl LI. The audience peaked at 17.38 million viewers between 10:30 and 10:40 p.m. ET. (Fox Sports)

However, Tuesday’s telecast trailed the much-hyped Cubs-Indians World Series Game 1 last year.  The Astros-Dodgers game’s 8.7 rating and 14.97 million viewers on FOX were down 23% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Cubs-Indians last year (11.3, 19.4M). Compared to Mets-Royals in 2015, ratings fell 3% but viewership increased a fraction of a percent from a 9.0 and 14.94 million. (SportsMediaWatch)…

…In addition, MLB headed into the World Series on a ratings high, as the MLB postseason was the most-watched overall since 2011, averaging 4,763,000 viewers, through the LCS. In addition, Saturday’s Yankees-Astros ALCS Game 7 was the most-watched baseball game outside of the World Series and All-Star Game since 2010, drawing 9.9 million viewers on FS1. Check our SVG’s full MLB Postseason Ratings Roundup HERE. 

NFL Week 7 Ratings Recap: Monday Night Football Up 5% Thus Far
This week’s Monday Night Football game – a Philadelphia Eagles’ 34-24 victory over the Washington Redskins – averaged 11.4 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. On ESPN, Redskins-Eagles averaged a 6.9 US household rating and 11.3 million viewers, up from Texans-Broncos (6.7 US household rating and 11.2 million viewers) one year ago. The telecast peaked from 9:45–10 p.m. ET with an 8.4 US household rating and 13.9 million viewers. On ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, Redskins-Eagles averaged an additional 109,000 viewers – 61,000 on ESPN Deportes and 48,000 on ESPN2. ESPN expected the MNF audience is likely to grow by eight percent once all streaming and out-of-home audiences are included (based on ESPN’s new Nielsen Total Audience measurement). Through seven weeks (eight games), ESPN’s MNF is averaging 11.2 million viewers, a 5% increase through week 7 one year ago (10.6 million). In Washington DC, the game delivered an 11.0 rating on ESPN and a 10.3 rating on WJLA-ABC, for a combined 21.3 rating in the market. In Philadelphia, the game delivered a 16.4 rating on ESPN and a 15.1 rating on WPHL-IND, for a combined 31.5 rating in the market. (ESPN)…

…NBC Sunday Night Football’s Falcons-Patriots game earned an 11.0 rating and 19.2 million viewers, up 8% in ratings and 9% in viewership from Seahawks-Cardinals last year (10.2, 17.7M). The Patriots’ win drew a TAM of 19.4 million viewers with streaming included. (SMW)…

…CBS’s Week 7 NFL national window, featuring Bengals-Steelers in 63% of markets, had an 11.3 rating and 19.8 million viewers on CBS — down 10% in ratings and 8% in viewership from Patriots-Steelers last year (12.6, 21.7M). (SMW)…

…Fox’s Week 7 NFL singleheader window, featuring Cowboys-49ers or Saints-Packers in most of the country, had a 9.5 rating and 16.1 million viewers on FOX last Sunday — down 6% in ratings and 5% in viewership from last year (10.1, 16.9M). (SMW)

…For more in-depth analysis of last weekend’s NFL ratings, check out the coverage on SportsMediaWatch.com.

Week 8 College Football Ratings Recap: Wolverines/Nittany Lions Lead the Way
ABC’s Saturday Night Football featuring Michigan at Penn State (7:30 p.m.) earned a total live viewership of 7,090,000 viewers, the most-watched college football game of the week across all networks. The Wolverines-Nittany Lions viewership was up 8% from 2016’s week 8 Saturday Night Football game (Ohio State at Penn State), while the 3.9 rating was even with last year. ABC’s week 8 SNF audience is the network’s second largest since opening weekend and its fourth highest overall this season. Also, Saturday Night Football has been the most-watched franchise this season across all networks, including airing six of the 10 most watched games. (ESPN)…

In other ABC college football news, Oklahoma State at Texas (noon ET) delivered a total live audience of 3,923,000 viewers, up 63% from last season’s comparable game window (NC State at Louisville). It is the second-most watched noon game of the year across all networks, trailing only last week’s Michigan at Indiana game which also aired on ABC. Indiana at Michigan State (3:30 p.m., ABC) delivered a total live audience of 3,547,000 viewers, a 10% increase from last season’s comparable window. (ESPN)…

…The SEC on CBS’s Tennessee-Alabama matchup drew a 2.8 rating and 4.4 million viewers on Saturday, down 44% in ratings and 47% in viewership from Alabama-Texas A&M last year (5.0, 8.5M). (SMW)…

…In addition, Louisville at Florida State at noon drew 2,580,000 viewers on ESPN, down 15% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Wisconsin-Iowa last year (2.0, 3.3M). Syracuse at Miami at 3:30 p.m. drew 2,093,000 viewers on ESPN (no comparable game last year). (ESPN and SMW)….

…FOX’s Kansas-TCU game delivered a 0.7 rating and 1.2 million viewers on the FOX broadcast network, down 50% in ratings and 49% in viewership from Oklahoma-Texas Tech last year (1.4, 2.3M) and the lowest rating ever for college football on primetime over-the-air television. Oklahoma-Kansas State drew a 1.9 and 3.0 million in the afternoon, up 111% in ratings and 119% in viewership from Utah-UCLA last year (0.9, 1.4M). Maryland-Wisconsin started off the FOX tripleheader with a 1.0 and 1.5 million (no comparable window last year). On FS1, Arizona State-Utah notched a 0.25 and 387,000. West Virginia-Baylor on FS2 had a 0.18 and 325,000. (SMW)…

…For more in-depth analysis of last weekend’s college football ratings, check out the coverage on SportsMediaWatch.com.

Cavs-Nets is YES’ Highest-Rated Nets Telecast in Three Seasons
Wednesday night’s Cavs-Nets telecast generated a 1.26 average TV Household rating on YES, the network’s highest-rated Nets telecast in three seasons (YES’ December 8, 2014 Cavs-Nets telecast averaged a 1.59 rating).  The YES telecast peaked with a 2.35 rating during the 10:00-10:15 quarter-hour. (YES)

NBCSN Viewership Up 31% for NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs From Kansas Speedway
NBC Sports Group’s presentation of this past Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race from Kansas Speedway averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.77 million viewers across NBCSN and NBC Sports Digital platforms. The NBCSN-only telecast averaged 2.76 million viewers, up 31% vs. NBCSN’s prior three NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs races this season, and up 4% vs. NBCSN’s 2016 Fall Cup Series race average. Viewership of Sunday’s race peaked in the 6:30-6:45 p.m. ET quarter hour, as nearly 3.6 million viewers watched Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota secure the team’s seventh NASCAR Cup Series win of the season. In addition, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series telecast on NBCSN was the most-watched sporting event of the day on cable, driving NBCSN to rank as the #1 network on cable in the race’s 3:30 -6:45 p.m. ET time period.

Through 16 races this season, NBC Sports Group’s 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series live race coverage is averaging nearly 3.4 million viewers, even with the first 16 races last season (3.388 million vs. 3.379 million).

Sunday’s Cup Series race was streamed on the NBC Sports app and across NBC Sports Digital platforms by a total of 50,000 unique devices, for a combined total of 3.8 million live minutes, up 28% and 73%, respectively, from the same race last year. For the 2017 NASCAR on NBC Cup Series season to date (16 race weekends), there have been a total of 860K unique devices and 108.4M live minutes streamed, up 35% and 34%, respectively, vs. 2016. 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series streaming on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app is on pace to be the most-streamed season ever for NASCAR on NBC coverage. (NBC Sports)