Ratings Roundup: ESPN Sees 22% Increases on WNBA Coverage; Aaron Judge's Hunt for 61 Home Runs Fuels Viewership on YES Network By SVG Staff
Friday, September 23, 2022 - 7:45 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, Disney Networks score a season of viewership wins with expanded WNBA coverage, YES Network sees viewership spike amid Aaron Judge's chase for 61 home runs, and more.
Disney Networks Score a Season of Viewership Ws with Expanded WNBA Coverage in 2022 Disney Networks expanded coverage of the WNBA in 2022 to televise more games than ever before, leading to viewership growth throughout both the regular season and playoffs. Together, ESPN and ABC televised 49 games from Tip-Off week through the conclusion of the WNBA Finals on Sunday as ESPN continued its 26-year relationship with the WNBA, dating back to the inaugural season in 1997.
As the exclusive home of the WNBA postseason, Disney Networks televised 49 games as part of the league's new expanded playoff format with the Las Vegas Aces securing the franchise's first championship, defeating the Connecticut Sun in the best-of-five series. After 23 games, the 2022 postseason averaged 456,000 viewers - up 22% over 2021's postseason - making it the most-viewed WNBA postseason since 2007.
WNBA on ESPN Viewership Milestones in 2022:
Full 2022 Season (Regular Post): most viewed since 2006, averaging 412,000 viewers (49 games), up 22% form 2021.
Semifinals: Most-viewed semifinal round since 2014, averaging 488,000 viewers (nine games), up 45% from 2021.
First Round: Most-viewed opening round since 2007, up 50% from the first and second rounds last year, averaging 392,000 over 10 games.
Regular Season: Most-viewed regular season since 2008. The WNBA on ESPN Presented by Google season (25 games across Disney Networks) averaged 372,000 viewers, a 20% spike versus 2021. The Aces-Storm regular season finale on ABC averaged 835,000 - the most-viewed WNBA game across all networks since May 17, 2008.
All-Star Game: Most-viewed All-Star Game since 2015. The 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game on ABC averaged 734,000 viewers, up 53% from 2021's All-Star Game.
WNBA Draft: Most-viewed WNBA Draft since 2004. The 2022 WNBA Draft Presented by State Farm averaged 403,000 viewers, up 20% from 2021.
ESPN Social doubled the number of WNBA-focused social posts across the company's various accounts in 2022. Those efforts resulted in 1.1 billion impressions, a 20% increase over 2021, and more than 193 million total video views, a staggering 90% jump from the prior year.
This Week's Yankees Ratings on YES Network New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and his chase for 61 regular season home runs is capturing the attention of the entire baseball world, but the outfielder's attraction can be seen during a pair of games vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates this week.
Wednesday night's telecast averaged 600,000 Total Viewers in the New York DMA, peaking at 756,000 Total Viewers during the 9:30-9:45 pm quarter-hour.
The 600,000 Average Total Viewers marks the YES Network's best non-Subway Series game telecast in four years, since Red Sox-Yankees on May 8, 2018, which averaged 603,000 Total Viewers.
The game was also the 28th game out of YES' last 36 Primetime Yankees games that have been No. 1 in the New York DMA in Total Viewers.
In addition, the game was also the most-streamed game ever on the YES App, eclipsing 105,000 unique viewers.
Tuesday night's telecast averaged 539,000 Total Viewers in the New York DMA, peaking at 676,000 Total Viewers during the 9:45-10:00 pm quarter-hour.
The 539,000 Average Total Viewers marks YES' best Primetime non-Subway Series telecast in four years (557,000 Average Total Viewers for YES' July 2, 2018 Braves-Yankees).
On pace to have its best Yankees season in 11 years (since 2011), the YES Network is averaging 354,000 Total Viewers for its Yankees telecasts this season, a 24% year-over-year increase from last year. Last night marked the 37th YES game this season to average 400,000 Total Viewers or more. By comparison, YES only had nine such games during the 2021 season.
Disney Networks Averaged Nearly 21 Million Viewers During Monday Night Football's Two Hours of Overlapping Action During Monday Night Football's Week 2, Disney Networks averaged 20.6 million viewers (ESPN, ABC, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN ) when Tennessee-Buffalo and Minnesota-Philadelphia were shown simultaneously, a two hour period (8:30 - 10:30 p.m. ET). The 20.6 million viewers bested the record-setting Monday Night Football Week 1 audience across the same five networks (19.85 million viewers from 8:14 - 11:18 p.m. on Sept.19) and peaked at 22.2 million viewers from 9:15 - 9:30 pm. The impressive combined viewership mounted despite the Buffalo Bills scoring 31 unanswered points on their way to a lopsided 41-7 victory, and the Eagles jumping out a 24-7 lead during the overlapping period.
Examining closer, fans watched nearly four billion minutes of Monday Night Football in Week 2 across the same Disney Networks, which is up from the 3.7 billion minutes watched for ESPN's most recent Monday Night Football doubleheader in 2020 (Week 1 with kickoffs at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.). Additionally, the 3.9 billion minutes watched is up 56% from a standard, standalone Monday Night Football game (approximately 2.6 billion minutes on a weekly basis since 2006).
Individually, ABC and ESPN were the most-viewed networks of the night across all of television, and both games were the most-watched telecasts of the night. Minnesota-Philadelphia averaged 12.9 million viewers (ABC/ESPN ) and Tennessee-Buffalo averaged 7.9 million viewers (ESPN/ESPN2/ES
North America Stories
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
25/03/2026
Synamedia has announced ContentArmor Edge Watermarking, a server-side solution t...
25/03/2026
SES has announced meoSphere, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network targeted for operation by 2030. The first phase will pair SES-developed software-defin...
25/03/2026
TVU Networks is working with Reuters on a phased migration from satellite to a c...
25/03/2026
Nielsen has announced three senior appointments. Seth Ladetsky has been named Head of Global Sports. Trevor Fellows will lead Nielsen's advertiser and agenc...
25/03/2026
Anoki and Amagi have launched In-Scene Ads powered by Anoki ContextIQ across Amagi's portfolio of in-content ad formats for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (...
25/03/2026
Arkona Technologies will announce a series of enhancements to its BLADE//runner platform at NAB 2026 (Booth C.1808). The updates focus on usability and workflow...
25/03/2026
Daktronics has installed two tower displays and a video wall in the Lexus Club at Petco Park in San Diego ahead of the 2026 season.
Continuing to improve the ...
25/03/2026
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is celebrating its 50th anniversary as NAB Show 2026 approaches. The company was founded in 1976 by Vincent Jachetta, an N...
25/03/2026
IPC, a provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 de...
25/03/2026
Live production categories were led by NBC, FOX, and ESPN's NFL coverage...
25/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and Spectrum have announced a multiyear distribution agreemen...
25/03/2026
(L-R) Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher attend The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris Technologies and RFTEQ Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris delivers combat-ready Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system, which deploys and retrieves Iver4 900 autonomous underwater vehicles through submarine t...
25/03/2026
The company expands leadership team under Chief Revenue Officer Amilcar Perez
S...
Ratings Roundup: ESPN Sees 22% Increases on WNBA Coverage; Aaron Judge's Hunt for 61 Home Runs Fuels Viewership on YES Network By SVG Staff 
