Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Ratings Roundup: ESPN Sees 22% Increases on WNBA Coverage; Aaron Judge's Hunt for 61 Home Runs Fuels Viewership on YES Network

23/09/2022

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
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/09/23/ratings-roundup-espn-sees-22-in...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

02/07/2025

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From FOLKTALES to Oh, Hi!

Hege Wik and Odin appear in FOLKTALES by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institut...

02/07/2025

IGUALADA Beats the Odds in the Ultimate Underdog Tale

(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival) By Patty Consolazio This one's for any person who's ever felt put down, left out, marginaliz...

02/07/2025

Paramount Settles Trump Lawsuit for $16 Million

NEW YORK Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, ending a long-running legal saga that could clear the way...

02/07/2025

FCC Approves Sale of Sinclair Stations to Rincon

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved the transfer of licenses for five TV stations from Sinclair to Rincon Broadcasting, which announce...

02/07/2025

TV Tech's Top Stories of 2025

As the media industry faces an uncertain business climate and rapidly changing consumer habits, TV Tech's most popular stories from the first six months of ...

02/07/2025

Average U.S. Home Now Has Two Smart TVs

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New data shows that U.S. homes now own an average of two smart TVs, with Samsung and LG dominating the market but Roku and FireTV continue to g...

02/07/2025

Oaktree Acquires FilmRise

LOS ANGELES Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise, an independent digital streaming content distributor, and merged it with Shout! ...

02/07/2025

ATSC Names Luiz Fausto Vice President of Standards Development

WASHINGTON The Advanced Television Systems Committee named Luiz Fausto vice president of standards development, succeeding ATSC vice president Jerry Whitaker, w...

02/07/2025

Boston Conservatory and the Sphinx Organization Join Forces to Make Classical Education Accessible

Boston Conservatory and the Sphinx Organization Join Forces to Make Classical Ed...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Aurora's Matt Beal on Taking Up the Broadcast Reins Alongside the FIA

Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Getting the Production Together With NEP Finland, Cloudbass Graphics

Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Host Broadcaster Aurora Looks Ahead to This Weekend's Second Race of the Season in Hljes

Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport, Sunset+Vine Talk Coverage Plans, Distribution and Maintaining Momentum

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League Launches New Content Series to Support Teams, Players Over Summer of Football

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite Puts Fans, Players Front and Center With Title Sequence for ITV

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...

02/07/2025

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down the Craft

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...

02/07/2025

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...

02/07/2025

NVIDIA RTX AI Accelerates FLUX.1 Kontext - Now Available for Download

Black Forest Labs, one of the world's leading AI research labs, just changed the game for image generation. The lab's FLUX.1 image models have earned g...

01/07/2025

L3Harris Delivers Missionized Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Aircraft

L3Harris Technologies has delivered its second Bombardier Global 6500 missionize...

01/07/2025

L3Harris Sets Date for Second Quarter 2025 Earnings Release

MELBOURNE, Fla., July 1, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its second quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, Ju...

01/07/2025

FCC Rejects License Challenges to 3 Baltimore TV Stations

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations, renewing the licenses for Chesapeake...

01/07/2025

Dalet Flex LTS Update Features Improved Content Workflow Tools

Dalet has released a new update to its Dalet Flex media workflow platform, introducing powerful new capabilities to its flagship platform....

01/07/2025

New Global Game' Summit Explores Future of Soccer, Tech and Media

NEWARK, N.J. With the FIFA Club World Cup final rapidly approaching and the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup now less than a year away, interest in soccer in th...

01/07/2025

COW Job Listing: Laser Engraved Logo

COW Job Listing: Laser Engraved Logo Brie Clayton July 1, 2025 0 Comments Laser engraved logo July 1, 2025Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Cr...

01/07/2025

LeGrow.Studio Builds Broadcast Hub for ePro League

LeGrow.Studio Builds Broadcast Hub for ePro League Brie Clayton July 1, 2025 0 Comments TEM Constellation HD and BlackmagicURSA Broadcast G2 drive liv...

01/07/2025

Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0, bringing AI-powered relighting to any footage

Beeble launches SwitchLight 2.0, bringing AI-powered relighting to any footage Brie Clayton July 1, 2025 0 Comments New AI model delivers full-scene p...

01/07/2025

Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Created with Blackmagic Design

Steffie Beltt's Mi Amor Music Video Created with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton July 1, 2025 0 Comments Blackmagic PYXIS 6K digital film camera...

01/07/2025

Sinclair Pays $500,000 to Settle FCC Investigations

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement and Media Bureaus have entered into a consent decree with Sinclair to resolve a variety of in...

01/07/2025

LPTV Broadcasters Association to Hold Webinar on Station Sales

DENVER Low-power television (LPTV) station owners looking to navigate the complexities of selling their assets in todays dynamic media environment are invited t...

01/07/2025

Netflix to Carry Live Programming from NASA+

NASA announced today that live programming from its NASA+ channel will be available on Netflix starting sometime this summer....

01/07/2025

FCC Chair Carr Hires Katie McAuliffe as Policy Advisor

WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr has appointed Katie McAuliffe to serve as policy advisor in his office....

01/07/2025

GFiber Demonstrates Network Slicing to Improve Home Internet Performance

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Alphabet's GFiber, the broadband provider formerly known as Google Fiber, has announced that it recently worked with Nokia to demonstr...

01/07/2025

DoubleVerify Debuts Attention Measurement for Social Media

NEW YORK, N.Y. DoubleVerify (DV) has announced the launch of DV Authentic Attention for Social. The product will first launch with Snap, the owner of Snapchat....

01/07/2025

FCC Rejects License Challenges to Three Baltimore TV Stations

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has rejected license challenges to three full-power Baltimore TV stations and agreed to renew the license for C...

01/07/2025

Magewell Brings NDI into Conferencing Software and More w...

Compact new converter lets users capture live NDI and streaming sources into software over a USB interface Video interface and IP workflow innovator Magewell ...

01/07/2025

Disneys Hercules Brings Mosaic Visuals To Life On Stage W...

Disguise, the award-winning tech company driving visuals for Broadway and West End hits including Redwood, Stranger Things: The First Shadow and Disney's Fr...

01/07/2025

Heather Gray Named Vice President and General Manager of WRAL and FOX 50

Historic appointment ushers in unified leadership for WRAL-TV, New Media, and Digital Solutions RALEIGH, N.C. - 6-27-25 - Capitol Broadcasting Company is prou...

01/07/2025

Feel the Beat: Glass Heart' Main Trailer and Title Song Revealed

Back to All News Feel the Beat: Glass Heart' Main Trailer and Title Song RevealedPlay Video Play Video Entertainment 01 July 2025 GlobalJapan Link co...

01/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Expansion in the U.S.

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...

01/07/2025

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus Video Production

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...

01/07/2025

Cherry On the Cake: Inside the Technical Production of the Tour de France 2025 with EMG / Gravity Media

Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...

01/07/2025

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins Fans

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...

01/07/2025

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...

01/07/2025

Watch: A Line Crossed: Netflix Drops Explosive Trailer for New Series, 'Marked'

Back to All News Watch: A Line Crossed: Netflix Drops Explosive Trailer for New...

01/07/2025

Broadcast Pix Showcases Live Production Tools at ACM 2025 in Boston

Tyngsboro, Mass. - June 30, 2025 - The 2025 ACM Annual Conference at Boston University was an energizing and inspiring gathering of community media professional...

01/07/2025

How AI Factories Can Help Relieve Grid Stress

In many parts of the world, including major technology hubs in the U.S., there's a yearslong wait for AI factories to come online, pending the buildout of n...

30/06/2025

Artemis II Mission Advances with Successful RS-25 Engine Checkout Tests

The Artemis II Space Launch System core stage is integrated with the solid rocket boosters inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy S...

30/06/2025

WRAL-WRAZ Raleigh Names Heather Gray as VP and GM

RALEIGH, N.C. Capitol Broadcasting Co. has named Heather Gray vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV here....

30/06/2025

VAB Awards JJ Freeman Engineering Award to Bill Sewell of WTKR/WGNT

The Virginia Association of Broadcasters has recognized Bill Sewell, Director of Engineering at WTKR & WGNT in Norfolk, Va. as the recipient of the 2025 J.J. Fr...

30/06/2025

SBE Recruits 49 New Members

The Society of Broadcast Engineers said its annual member drive resulted in the recruitment of 49 individual members....