Ratings Roundup: NBA Viewership Up Across the Board, NFL Divisional Playoffs Down Slightly YoY By SVG Staff
Friday, January 22, 2021 - 7:59 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
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, NBA viewership is up across the board after a big MLK Day; YES sees its most most-viewed Nets telecast in six years; CBS, Fox, and NBC see a slight drop Year over year for their NFL Divisional Playoff games; and NBCSN delivers its most-watched NHL regular season game on record while NESN delivers its best Bruins opener since 2013.
NBA Viewership Across TNT, ESPN AND ABC UP 34% NBA viewership across TNT, ESPN and ABC through MLK Day (27 games) is up 34% vs. the comparable number of games during the 2019-20 season (2.0 million average viewers vs. 1.49 million average viewers), according to Nielsen Media Research. (NBA)
NBA on TNT's MLK Day Primetime Doubleheader Viewership Up 31% TNT's MLK Day primetime doubleheader coverage - highlighted by the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Brooklyn Nets and Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers - averaged 2.1 million viewers for an increase of 31% vs. last year's comparable MLK Day coverage, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals. The doubleheader increase was fueled by Warriors/Lakers at 10 p.m. ET, which netted an 84% increase based on an average of 2.2 million viewers vs. last year's same telecast window. (WarnerMedia)
Nets-Cavs Is YES' Most-Viewed Nets Telecast in Six Years YES' telecast of last evening's Nets-Cavs game averaged 159,000 Total Viewers in the New York DMA, the network's most-viewed Nets telecast in six years (179,000 average Total Viewers for its December 8, 2014 game, also against the Cavs). Last evening's telecast peaked at 242,000 viewers during the 9:15 to 9:30 pm ET quarter-hour. Through last night's game, YES' average viewership is up 89% vs. last season's season average (85,000 vs. 45,000 average Total Viewers per game). (Twitter)
In addition, YES' telecast of the Jan. 16 Magic-Nets game averaged 143,000 viewers in the New York DMA, nearly double YES' season-to-date average of 72,000 viewers (despite going up against NFL playoff action and the Rangers-Islanders game). (Twitter)
Buccaneers-Saints on FOX Ranks #1 This Season with More Than 36 Million Viewers On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers New Orleans Saints game drew 36,416,201 viewers across Fox, Fos Deportes, Fox Sports streaming platforsm, NFL Digital, and Verizon Media MObile properties on Sunday. It was the most watched telecast of any kind on any networks since Super Bowl LIV and the most watched NFL teelcast of th eseason. It was also the most streamed NFL Playoff game in Fox Sports history with 1.3 million AMA and the most watched NFL telecast of the day on Spanish-language TV on Fox Deportes.
On Saturday, the L.A. Rams Green Bay Pakcers game drew 27,186,576 viewers across all platforsm. It was the most-watched telecast of the day and Fox Deportes drew the most-watched NFL telecast of the day on Spanish-language TV. (Fox Sports)
Ravens-Bills AFC Divisional Playoff Is NBC's Most-Watched Saturday Primetime Game in Four Years
NBC's broadcast of the Buffalo Bills' 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Playoff last weekend delivered the network's largest Saturday primetime audience in four years, and the largest Saturday night audience on any network since last January. The Ravens-Bills game averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 27.1 million viewers across NBC TV, Universo, NBC Sports Digital and NFL Digital platforms, and Verizon Media mobile properties, according to official data released today by Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. (NBC Sports)
Chiefs-Brown Down 3% YoY; Divisional Weekend Is Down 7% Overall The earlier game Sunday (Kansas City Chiefs-Cleveland Browns) on CBS delivered 34.33 million viewers, a slight 3 percent decline from the same window a year ago.
Overall, the four games on Jan. 16 and 17 (two on Fox and one each on CBS and NBC) averaged 30.63 million viewers. That's down about 7 percent vs. the 32.84 million average for divisional playoff games in 2020. (THR)
Penguins-Flyers Opening Night Matchup is NBCSN's Most-Watched NHL Regular Season Game on Record
The first game of the 2020-21 NHL season between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 972,000 viewers last night on NBCSN, making it the network's most-watched regular-season game on record. The Opening Night tripleheader on NBCSN, which also included Chicago at Tampa Bay and St. Louis at Colorado, averaged a TAD of 774,000 viewers, making it the network's most-watched multi-game Opening Night on record and up 29% from last year's doubleheader (600,000). (NBC Sports)
Bruins Opener on NESN Touts Highest Season-Debut Rating Since 2013 The 2020-21 Boston Bruins season kicked off last night with a win against the New Jersey Devils and a 5.98 household (HH) rating in the Boston DMA, NESN announced today. The rating for the shootout win against the Devils is the highest HH rating for a season opener since 2013. The game also marks the highest HH rating for a regular season Bruins matchup since March 29, 2018. (NESN)
North America Stories
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
03/04/2026
Live Vertical Video automatically track the action on the court via AI technology and delivers a fully optimized, 9 16 live feed for viewers...
03/04/2026
As the Illini make their first trip to college basketball's biggest stage si...
03/04/2026
After last summer's Softball National Championship victory and last week'...
03/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
03/04/2026
Eight games across four tournaments will be played in three venues; accommodatio...
03/04/2026
The Ottawa Senators and Bell Media have announced a long-term rights extension for regional Ottawa Senators games on TSN and RDS. TSN Radio 1200 remains the exc...
03/04/2026
Massive production in Phoenix is run out of Game Creek Video Flagship mobile uni...
03/04/2026
New York April 2, 2026 TelevisaUnivision, the world's leading Spanish-la...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
Ratings Roundup: NBA Viewership Up Across the Board, NFL Divisional Playoffs Down Slightly YoY By SVG Staff 
