Ratings Roundup: Average of 2.7 Million Viewers See Serena’s US Open First Round Match, 5 Million Viewers Saw the Conclusion of Serena Williams Day 3 Match

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Serena a Sensation: Average of 2.7 Million Viewers See Her Win First Round Match at US Open and Day Three of US Open: 5 Million Viewers Saw the Conclusion of Serena Williams Win Dramatic Three-Set Match.

Day Threee Of US Open: 5 Million Viewers Saw the Conclusion of Serena Williams Win Dramatic Three-Set Match

Wednesday night’s US Open match with the legendary Serena Williams – in what is expected to be her final event and defeating Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in a dramatic and well-played second-round contest 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 – peaked in the last quarter hour (9:30-9:45 p.m.) with 5 million viewers. The audience averaged 2.3 million viewers for PrimeTime at the US Open presented by IBM (7:00pm – 12:31am), an increase of +289% over last year, versus Day Three of last year’s primetime telecast.

Williams v. Kontaveit also helped ESPN win the night among all broadcast or cable networks among Men and Adults 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 and placed it as the second most-viewed network among households and P2+.

Serena a Sensation: Average of 2.7 Million Viewers See Her Win First Round Match at US Open

Monday night’s US Open Opening Night match with the legendary Serena Williams – in what is expected to be her final event and defeating Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in a first-round contest 6-3, 6-3 – averaged 2.7 million viewers glued to the drama for the 1:45 match. The audience peaked in the last quarter-hour (9 – 9:15 p.m. ET) at 3.2 million.

The widespread anticipation for and attention across media to the near 41-year-old’s likely farewell appearance at tennis’ final Major tournament of the year – dating back to her debut in 1998 and including a record of six titles she shares with Chrissie Evert – helped boost ESPN viewership throughout the day from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.:

The network averaged an ESPN first-day record of 1.7 million viewers for PrimeTime at the US Open presented by IBM (7 p.m. – 12:03 a.m. ET), an increase of 279% — nearly four-fold – over last year and up 40% over the previous high in 2019.
The afternoon window on ESPN (noon – 7 p.m.) averaged the best for ESPN since its first year with exclusivity and first-ball-to-last-ball coverage in 2015 (680,000) with 626,000 viewers, up 44% from 2021.
Combined, the total day average of 843,000 viewers was better than 2019’s previous best of 809,000 by 4%.
Beyond television, Monday was the most-trafficked US Open Opening Day for ESPN Digital Properties on record, two million unique users.

First Take Sees Double-Digit Audience Growth, Special Shows in August

In August (8/1-8/26), ESPN’s signature morning debate show First Take – featuring Stephen A. Smith and host Molly Qerim – saw double-digit viewership growth, as well as multiple special shows outside of its usual Seaport Studio. Overall, First Take was up 12 percent vs. 2021, averaging 323,000 viewers. This also marks the show’s most-watched Aug. since 2019.

The month also saw two special, on-site shows, including a trip to The Star in Frisco for the Dallas Cowboys inaugural Blue Carpet and Season Kickoff event. The Aug. 25 edition was up 29 percent from the comparable show in 2021 and was the most-watched First Take episode overall since June. The Aug. 15 edition, celebrating Smith’s return from a yacht on the Hudson River, was also up a significant 5 percent year-over-year.

USA Network Delivers Viewership Milestones As Cable Home Of NBC Sports

Viewership highlights for NBC Sports programming on USA Network:

Premier League

• Two of the four most-watched Premiser League matches on cable on record: Manchester City-Liverpool on April 10, 2022, with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 1.15 million viewers (#2 most watched cable Premier League match on record) and Chelsea-Liverpool on Jan. 2, 2022, with a TAD of 1.04 million viewers (#4 most watched).
• The opening match of the 2022-23 Premier League season between Crystal Palace-Arsenal posted a TAD of 526,000 viewers, making it NBC Sports’ most-watched weekday opener on record, and the second-most watched opener on record (Manchester United-Tottenham on NBCSN in 2015; 651,000 viewers TAD).
• Post-match coverage following Newcastle-Manchester City on Aug. 21, 2022, was NBC Sports’ most-watched Premier League post-game show on cable on record (582,000 viewers).

NASCAR

• The race at Watkins Glen on Aug. 21, 2022, marked the sixth consecutive USA Network Cup Series race to deliver year-over-year viewership gains.
• USA Network’s telecast from Atlanta on July 10, 2022, stands as the most-watched Cup Series race on cable (2.626 million TV-only viewers) since last year’s Darlington race (3.149 million on FS1, 5/9/21).

Beijing Olympics

• Featuring live coverage of every Winter Games sport, USA Network was the top destination for sports and entertainment programming on cable and along with Tokyo Olympics coverage last summer, delivered the network’s most-watched 15-day span (Feb. 5-19) span since September 2018.
• The Beijing Olympics averaged 1.4 million primetime viewers and 920,000 Total Day viewers – both the highest among all sports and entertainment cable networks during the Games.

Tokyo Olympics

• Highlighted by live coverage of track & field, men’s and women’s beach volleyball, indoor volleyball and softball, USA Network was the top destination for sports and entertainment programming on cable, ranking as the #1 sports and entertainment cable network in primetime over the course of the Games with an average of 1.6 million viewers.
• USA Network’s primetime viewership average was the best ever for any cable network during the Summer Olympics and featured cable’s three most-watched Summer Olympics nights ever.

Golf: U.S. Open & The Open Championship

• Round 2 of the 2022 U.S. Open averaged a TAD of 1.17 million viewers, resulting in USA Network’s best weekday afternoon viewership since January 2017 (excluding Holidays).
• Excluding the Olympics, the 150^th Open Championship drove USA Network to its best week of viewership in more than two years (since May 2020).
• With a TAD of 1.38 million viewers, 2022 delivered the most-watched early rounds for the Open Championship ever for NBC Sports and most-watched overall since 2015 on ESPN. The Round 1 TAD of 1.35 million viewers was the largest audience for that round since 2013 on ESPN.

Tour de France

• USA Network posted the two most-watched weekday stages of the Tour de France in more than 10 years. With 554,000 viewers, the Friday July 15 telecast was the most-watched weekday stage since 2009. The competition the day prior (Thursday July 14) averaged 510,000 viewers which was the best weekday delivery since 2010.

Horse Racing

• 2022 Kentucky Derby programming on Friday and Saturday delivered its best cable performance since 2019.
• 559,000 viewers for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby undercard programming marked the second-best performance for the event in the last six years.
• Friday’s Kentucky Oaks coverage averaged 244,000 viewers, the best for the event since 2019.

Track & Field

• USA Network’s primetime coverage of the World Track & Field Championships Oregon22 on Friday July 22 averaged 783,000 TV-only viewers, NBC Sports’ second-most watched track & field cable telecast on record, excluding Olympics and U.S. Team Trials. It only trails the 2018 Indoor Championships, which had a Winter Olympics lead-in (1.306 million, NBCSN, Feb. 10).

Nebraska-Northwestern on FOX is Saturday’s Most-Watched Sports Event