Ratings Roundup: AL Wild Card Game Up on ESPN, But NL Game Down on TBS By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Friday, October 6, 2017 - 9:00 am
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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, The AL Wild Card Game was up on ESPN but the NL game was down on TBS; the NHL opens up on NBCSN; The Thursday Night Football Week 5 overnight is up over 2016; we recap Week 4 of the NFL season and week 5 of the CFB season ratings; the WNBA Finals pulls in a big audience for its finale; the MLB on FOX regular season ties a record low; YES's Yankees local ratings are way up, but the Cardinals are way down on Fox Sports Midwest; and more.
MLB Wild Card Game Ratings: AL Up, NL Down,
Tuesday's Twins-Yankees American League Wild Card earned a 4.2 rating and 6.7 million viewers on ESPN, up 62% in ratings and 60% in viewership from Orioles-Blue Jays on TBS last year (2.6, 4.2M) (ESPN's figures include streaming viewership; the TBS numbers do not). Compared to last year's National League Wild Card on ESPN, Giants-Mets in the National League, ratings fell 7% from 4.5 and viewership 13% from 7.71 million. (SMW)
Wednesday's Rockies-Diamondbacks National League Wild Card Game earned 2.6 rating and 4.4 million viewers on TBS, down 42% in ratings and 41% in viewership from Giants-Mets on ESPN last year (4.5, 7.4M). Compared to last year's Wild Card game on TBS, Orioles-Blue Jays in the American League, ratings were flat and viewership increased 5% from 4.2 million. (SMW)
NHL Opens Up on NBCSN
NHL opening night on NBCSN, featuring, Blues/Penguins and Flyers/Sharks, scored a Total Audience Delivery of 701,000 viewers - the second best ever on the network for an opener. Blue/Penguins produced a TAD of 904,000 viewers (peaking with 997,000 during the 930-945 p.m. ET quarter hour), marking the 6th most-watched regular-season NHL game ever on the network. The game was most-streamed NHL regular season game EVER with records in uniques (80k), average min audience (31.7k), and live minutes (5 mil). However the 0.50 rating and 872,000 viewers (TV only) on NBCSN were down 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from Blues-Blackhawks last year (0.53, 905K). (NBC Sports PR/Twitter)
Meanwhile, Flyers/Sharks was NBCSN's third most-watched regular-season late game of a doubleheader, producing a TAD of 477,000 viewers. (NBC Sports PR/Twitter)
Thursday Night Football Week 5 Up 26% Over Last Year
Last night's THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game featuring New England's win over Tampa Bay earned an average overnight household rating/share of 11.1/19, up 26%, a significant increase from last year's 8.8/15 TNF game rating on CBS and NFL Network in Week 5 (Arizona-San Francisco; 10/06/16), according to Nielsen metered market ratings. TNF on CBS and NFL Network dominated primetime ratings from 8:00-11:00 PM, ET, averaging a household rating/share of10.2/17, easily topping the other networks. The 10.2/17 rating was 325% better than FOX (2.4/4), 176% up over NBC (3.7/6) and 132% better than ABC (4.4/7). Last night's game HH rating/share peaked with a 12.3/20 from 9:30-10:00 PM, ET. The game was viewed on CBS/NFL Network/Amazon Prime Video, and that digital viewing data will be available this afternoon when the final numbers are reported. (CBS/NFL)
Week 4 NFL Ratings Recap
On ESPN's Monday Night Football game - a Kansas City Chiefs' 29-20 victory over the Washington Redskins - averaged 12.1 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. On ESPN, Redskins-Chiefs averaged a 7.3 US household rating and 11.9 million viewers (down 9% in ratings and 11% in viewership from 8.0 and 13.5M for Giants-Vikings last year). The game peaked during the 11:30-11:45 p.m. ET quarter hour with an 8.4 US household rating and 13.6 million viewers. On ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, Redskins-Chiefs averaged an additional 129,000 viewers - 61,000 on ESPN Deportes and 68,000 on ESPN2. Through four weeks (five games), ESPN's MNF viewership is averaging 11.9 million viewers, a 5% increase through week 4 a year ago (11.3 million). (ESPN)
ON NBC's Sunday Night Football, Colts-Seahawks delivered a 9.6 rating and 16.7 million viewers, down 7% in ratings and viewership from Chiefs-Steelers last year (10.3, 18.1M), as well as the lowest rated and least-watched Week 4 edition of SNF since Eagles-Giants 10 years ago (9.4, 15.0M). (SMW)
The NFL on Fox window on Sunday (featuring either Rams-Cowboys or Panthers-Patriots in 49% of markets) earned an 11.5 rating and 20.1 million viewers on FOX Sunday - up 22% in ratings and viewership from last year (9.4, 16.4M), as well as the top singleheader of the season. (SMW)
The NFL on CBS national window on Sunday (Raiders-Broncos) had a 9.1 rating and 15.6 million viewers, down 31% in ratings and viewership from last year (13.1, 22.7M) and posting the steepest declines of any NFL window this season. Earlier in the day, CBS earned a 7.0 and 11.7 million for its early game - up 4% in ratings and viewership from last year (6.7, 11.2M). (SMW)
For much more in-depth coverage of the Week 4 NFL Ratings, check out SportsMediaWatch.com.
Week 5 College Football Ratings Recap
ABC's Saturday Night Football featuring Clemson at Virginia Tech (8 p.m.) delivered a total live audience of 4,693,000 viewers, beating Fox' TV-only prime time audience by 75% and helping ABC win the night among all broadcast networks across households, viewers and all key male and adult demos (M18-34, M18-49, M25-54, P18-34, P18-49 and P25-54). SNF has aired the most-watched prime time game each of the five weeks of the season and, in four of the five weeks, the most-viewed game overall and the average audience is 137% greater than Fox's prime time aud
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Ratings Roundup: AL Wild Card Game Up on ESPN, But NL Game Down on TBS By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
