Ratings Roundup: MLB Summer Camp Breaks Even in Numbers; NBC Sports Blows Out Coverage of Motorsports By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - 9:36 am
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Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, MLB Summer Camp breaks even despite a unique setting, NBC Sports gains ratings boost for massive coverage of motorsports, the final round of the Memorial Tournament performed well on CBS and GOLF Channel, and much more.
MLB Churns Out Mid-Level Numbers for Summer Camp
According to SportsMediaWatch, Major League Baseball's Summer Camp was a decent enough ratings draw.
Sunday's White Sox-Cubs MLB Summer Camp game averaged a 0.31 rating and 525,000 viewers on ESPN, up 30% in ratings and 62% in viewership from the network's previous MLB window, a weekday afternoon Red Sox-Braves Spring Training game in March (0.24, 325K). It was the most-watched MLB exhibition game on any network since ESPN averaged 863,000 for a game in Cuba four years ago. The most-watched Spring Training game ever on ESPN was a 2004 Yankees-Phillies matchup that averaged 912,000.
As one might expect, the numbers pale in comparison to regular season Sunday Night Baseball levels. On the same July Sunday last year, ESPN averaged a 0.8 and 1.33 million for Braves-Nationals.
In other Summer Camp action, ESPN2 averaged a 0.27 and 410,000 for Yankees-Mets on Saturday night. The game easily outdrew ESPN's competing MLS is Back match (Portland-Houston: 0.15, 266K).
As with Sunday's game, Saturday's broadcast was blacked out locally. YES Network averaged 196,000 viewers for the game, and 204,000 for the full three-game series. By comparison, the network averaged 100,000 for this year's abbreviated Spring Training schedule. Figures on SNY were not immediately available.
NBC Sports Packs Schedule With Motorsports Programming
NBC Sports' presentation of the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity series from Texas Motor Speedway, the NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader from Iowa Speedway, and IMSA from Sebring International Raceway this past weekend all registered viewership increases across NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com, and the NBC Sports app, according to Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics. In addition, NBC Sports broadcast its first-ever MotoGP race Sunday on NBC.
NBC Sports' NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series coverage from Texas Motor Speedway on NBCSN delivered double-digit viewership gains vs. 2019 for both series. The Cup Series race on Sunday (3:26-7:18 p.m. ET) averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 2.764 million viewers, up 24% vs. last year's Texas race (2.228 million; 11/3/19), and up 14% vs. the first race of last year's schedule on NBCSN from Chicagoland (2.428 million; 6/30/19). Viewership peaked at more than 3.2 million TV-only viewers (3.272 million) in the 7-7:15 p.m. ET quarter hour. The race delivered a 1.71 HH rating.
Saturday's Xfinity Series coverage on NBCSN (3:01-5:34 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of nearly 1 million viewers (980,000), up 29% vs. last year's race at Texas (757,000; 11/2/19) to rank as the most-watched Xfinity race from Texas on cable in four years. Viewership peaked at nearly 1.2 million viewers (1.173 million) during the 5:15-5:30 p.m. ET quarter hour, with the race delivering a 0.63 HH rating.
All four of NBC Sports' 2020 NASCAR races (two Cup, two Xfinity) have delivered double-digit viewership gains vs. 2019, as the Cup Series Brickyard 400 and the Xfinity Series Pennzoil 150 events on Fourth of July weekend posted 46% and 21% year-over-year viewership increases, respectively.
NBC Sports presented an INDYCAR doubleheader this past weekend with primetime races from Iowa Speedway on Friday and Saturday nights on NBCSN. Across both races, Iowa averaged a TAD of 350,000 viewers, up 119% vs. Iowa's rain-delayed coverage for a single race in 2019.
Saturday night's telecast (8:37-10:31 p.m. ET) averaged a TAD of 362,000 viewers, up 126% vs. last year's rain delayed coverage from Iowa (160,000) and up 6% vs. NBCSN's two-race average for Saturday night races last season (341,000). The race delivered a 0.23 HH rating.
For only the second time in its history, NBCSN telecast a Friday night INDYCAR race this past weekend, averaging a TAD of 339,000 viewers (9:08-11:06 p.m. ET), up 112% vs. last year's rain delayed coverage from Iowa (160,000) and up 72% compared to NBCSN's only previous Friday night race (2009 from Japan; 11 pm ET; 197,000 viewers). The race delivered a 0.21 HH rating.
For six races so far this season (3 NBC, 3 NBCSN), INDYCAR coverage has averaged a TAD of 740,000 viewers, up 9% vs. the first six races last year on NBC/NBCSN (679,000), excluding the Indy 500.
Saturday's IMSA telecast from Sebring International Raceway on NBCSN (5:34-8:37 p.m. ET) averaged 357,000 viewers, making it NBC Sports' most-watched IMSA race on record since acquiring media rights to the series last season. Viewership was also up 91% vs. the IMSA average for races on NBCSN. The race delivered a 0.23 HH rating.
NBC Sports presented the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday on NBC (3-4:30 p.m. ET), its first-ever broadcast of the series. The race averaged 527,000 viewers and delivered a 0.36 HH rating.
Memorial Tournament's Final Round Reaches Raise on CBS, GOLF Channel
According to Cynopsis Sports, the Memorial Tournament on CBS on Sunday ranked as the most-watched final round of the tournament since 2015, according to Nielsen. The round averaged 3.227 million viewers for a 9% rise of last year. Since returning to live golf in June, CBS Sports' has seen overall viewership grow 28% over comparable events last year, averaging 2.480 mi
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Ratings Roundup: MLB Summer Camp Breaks Even in Numbers; NBC Sports Blows Out Coverage of Motorsports By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
