Ratings Roundup: Kentucky Derby Down Slightly for NBC; First Round of NBA, NHL Playoffs Up Over 2013

NBC Sports’ coverage of Saturday’s 140th Kentucky Derby averaged 15.3 million viewers (according to Nielsen fast national data), down slightly from 2013’s 16.2 million viewers, but up 3% from 2012 (14.8 million) – the last time the Kentucky Derby faced head-to-head competition from the NBA Playoffs. California Chrome’s win on Saturday marks the fourth time in six years (2009, 2010, 2013, 2014) that NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage averaged more than 15 million viewers. From 1991-2008, Kentucky Derby average viewership did not reach 15 million. NBC’s 9.4/22 household rating for the Kentucky Derby ranks as the best Saturday rating on any network since the 2014 Sochi Olympics on NBC (9.6/17 on Feb. 15). Louisville, the home of the Kentucky Derby, topped the metered markets with a 37.8 rating/66 share (top 20 markets listed below). In addition, users live streamed a record 4.38 million minutes of the Kentucky Derby on NBC Sports Live Extra — a 59% increase over last year…

…The first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs on ESPN was the second most-watched and second-highest rated ever, as ESPN averaged 3,466,000 viewers (p2+) – up 12% from 3,102,000 last season. In addition, the nine first round games averaged a 2.2 U.S. household rating, up 10% from a 2.0 last season. The NBA Playoffs are also up across the board through its two games on ESPN2 (compared to three last season). On ESPN2, the first round averaged a 0.9 U.S. household rating, up 13 percent from a 0.8 last season. Viewership also increased with an average of 1,232,000 (p2+) compared to 1,212,000 last season. The first round of the NBA Playoffs delivered significant increases on WatchESPN. The average minute audience was 23,623, up 111 percent from last year’s first round…

…TNT’s coverage of the 2014 NBA Playoffs delivered the network’s most-viewed and highest-rated first round since 2011, with an average of 4,009,000 total viewers and a 2.6 U.S. HH rating for 26 live game telecasts, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals.  The network’s viewership is up 19% and its U.S. HH rating has increased 13% when compared with last year’s opening round averages (3,374,000 total viewers; 2.3 U.S. HH rating).  Additionally, TNT’s Inside the NBA studio show averaged a 1.3 U.S. HH rating and 1.8 million total viewers during the first round, up 8% and 6% respectively over last year…

…TNT hit a high note with its Game 7 tripleheader on Saturday, May 4 (the Atlanta Hawks vs. Indiana Pacers followed by the Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Clippers), averaged 5.1 million total viewers and a 3.2 U.S. HH rating.  The tripleheader was up 28% among total viewers and 23% in U.S. HH rating over the network’s overall averages for this year’s first round action. Game 7 between the Warriors/Clippers netted an average of 6.0 million total viewers and a 3.6 U.S. HH rating to register TNT’s most-viewed first round telecast since Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in 2012.  TNT’s Game 7 coverage of Memphis/Oklahoma City averaged a 3.6 U.S. HH rating and 5.8 million total viewers to propel the network to win the night across all of cable in primetime.  The telecast was up 33% in U.S. HH rating and 32% among total viewers over last year’s comparable Game 7 between the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls (2.7 U.S. HH rating; 4.4 million total viewers). Game 7 between the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers averaged a 2.3 U.S. HH rating and 3.5 million total viewers. Following the Game 7 tripleheader, TNT’s Inside the NBA delivered a 2.2 HH overnight rating from 1:52-2:43 a.m. ET, up 69% when compared with the show’s 1.3 average rating over the entire first round in 2014…

…NBA Digital has also delivered big numbers for its first round coverage of the NBA Playoffs with NBA TV, netting its most-watched game coverage of all time and its two most-viewed telecasts ever. NBA TV’s seven originally produced live game telecasts averaged 720,000 total viewers to register the network’s most-viewed NBA Playoff coverage of all time and a 237% increase over the comparable first round coverage last year. The network’s presentation of Game 6 featuring the Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks on May 1, produced NBA TV’s most-viewed telecast ever with an average of 1,071,000 total viewers. The Pacers/Hawks game peaked with 1,978,000 total viewers from 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET, the most-watched quarter hour in the network’s history.  NBA TV’s Pacers/Hawks telecast surpassed the mark set two days earlier (April 27) – Memphis vs. Oklahoma City, Game 5 – with an average of 939,000 total viewers.

Four of NBA TV’s live game telecasts were up triple digits among total viewers over last year’s comparable coverage including the aforementioned Grizzlies/Thunder Game 5 (up 452%), along with the Atlanta Hawks/Indiana Pacers Game 5, on Wednesday, April 28 (up 227%), the Pacers/Hawks Game 3 on Thursday, April 24 (up 209%) and the Dallas Mavericks/San Antonio Spurs Game 2 on Wednesday, April 23 (up 186%). Total day audience up 103% on NBA TV since the start of the playoffs and the network’s highest-ever daily viewership for the opening round of the playoffs. In addition, the NBA GameTime studio show, generated a 31% viewership increases for its post-game coverage throughout the first round…

…NBA Digital has also registered record traffic across its digital platforms (NBA.com and NBA Mobile) with page views up 29% and video views up 7% over last year.  NBA Mobile, in particular, has posted a 126% increase in video views and 46% gain in page views when compared with the first round of the playoffs in 2013. The league’s staple NBA Game Time app is up 90% in downloads since the playoffs began. Since the start of the NBA Playoffs, seven out of the top 10 most-discussed TV programs on Twitter have been NBA games, with Game 2 of the Oklahoma City/Memphis series (airing on TNT) ranking as the most-discussed NBA Playoff game on Twitter during the 2014 NBA Playoffs to date with 800,000 tweets…

…Despite losing to the Nets in seven games, Toronto Raptors’ first round series on TSN attracted an average audience of 732,000 viewers, making it the most-watched NBA Playoffs series on record in Canada. In total, more than 8 million unique viewers tuned in to watch the Raptors battle the Nets in this unforgettable series. Five of the games from the series now rank among the Top 10 audiences in the team’s history. Game 7 attracted an average audience of 912,000 viewers to TSN from tip-off to final buzzer – making it the third most-watched Raptors game ever. Audience levels peaked at more than 2 million viewers late in the fourth quarter as the game came down to the Raptors’ thrilling final possession. Game 7 was also the most-watched program of the day in the Greater Toronto Area, and achieved a 33.3% share…

…NBC, NBCSN and CNBC combined to average 752,000 viewers for 46 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round games, up 57% vs. last year’s first round (478,000 for 45 games). Locally, a number of NBC Sports Regional Networks provided live first-round game coverage of their respective teams, with CSN Chicago and CSN Philadelphia posting record viewership (home markets are blacked out on cable in the first round).

NBCSN averaged 614,000 viewers (28 games) for the first round, up 35% vs. 2013 (455,000 for 26 games). In its third year of televising Stanley Cup Playoff games, CNBC averaged 299,000 viewers (12 games), up 1% vs. 2013 (295,000 for 16 games). Overall cable coverage (NBCSN and CNBC combined) averaged 518,000 viewers (40 games), up 32% compared to the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs (391,000 for 42 games). The most-watched cable game of the first round was the Rangers 2-1 win over the Flyers in Game 7 of their series on April 30 (blacked out in the local markets), which averaged 1.12 million viewers, and peaked during the 9:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour with 1.655 million viewers. The contest is the most-watched first-round game on cable in two years, since 1.322 million viewers watched Game 7 of Capitals-Bruins on April 25, 2012. NBCSN and CNBC combined to air three Game 7s last night, and averaged 1.112 million viewers across both networks during the overlap time from 9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. ET.

NBC aired six 2014 Stanley Cup Playoff first-round games over the past two weekends. Games averaged 2.184 million viewers, up 39% from last year (1.572 million for three games). Game 2 of the Red Wings-Bruins series, which aired on April 20, averaged 2.784 million viewers, making it the most-watched game of the playoffs so far.

A number of NBC Sports Regional Networks featured first-round Stanley Cup Playoff coverage and recorded impressive viewership. Blackhawks ratings surged +27% over last year’s first-round slate of games on Comcast SportsNet Chicago (11.75 vs. 9.24). They averaged more than 415,00 homes per game in the country’s third-largest DMA. NHL playoff coverage powered CSN to close out the month of April as Chicago’s No. 1 ranked cable network in prime time. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia’s coverage of last night’s Game 7 between the Flyers and Rangers peaked at more than 576,000 viewers and posted an 8.32 rating among Adults 25-54 to rank as the highest-rated program in all of television (broadcast and cable) during the entire month of April in the Philadelphia DMA.

the NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for the web, tablets and mobile devices, delivered the best first round in NHL live streaming ever.

The opening round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBC Sports Live Extra streaming product delivered 57.83 million minutes, 463,000 unique viewers, 1.49 million visits and 3.66 million live starts. Those figures were up 437% (10.77 million), 401% (116K), 384% (308K), and 616% (512K), respectively, vs. last year. Live streams from games that aired on NBCSN and CNBC (blacked out in the local markets). Game 6 between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks delivered the most minutes consumed in the first round with 2.81 million (not blacked out in local markets)…

… Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid qualifying victories for the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final broke Champions League viewership records for FOX Sports 1 and FOX Deportes. Atletico Madrid’s 3-1 elimination of English giants Chelsea on Wednesday (4/30) attracted 627,000 viewers, setting a new viewership record for FOX Sports 1. It ties the 2012 second-leg semifinal between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid on FX as the largest audience for a UEFA Champions League match on English language cable television since the 2009 UEFA Champions Final featuring Barcelona and Manchester United on ESPN (1.4 million viewers). Tuesday’s 4-0 thrashing of last year’s champions Bayern Munich scored 557,000 viewers, and is now the second most-watched UEFA Champions League match televised by FOX Sports 1. FOX Deportes’ coverage of the Bayern Munich-Real Madrid second leg semifinal on Tuesday (4/29) was the Spanish language channel’s most-watched telecast for the year with 680,000 viewers. The match also delivered the highest-rated UEFA Champions League semifinal since the network began airing the prestigious club tournament in 2009, topping the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona face-off in 2011 (640,000)…

…Fox Sports earned its lowest NASCAR television rating in 13 years televising the sport last week, as the NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Richmond earned a 3.3 final rating and 5.6 million viewers on April 26, down 11% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (3.7, 6.1M), and down 8% in both measures from 2012 (3.6, 5.9M). (SportsMediaWatch)…

…ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball is averaging 2.12 million viewers through five games, up 7% from 1.97 million viewers at the same point last year. Meanwhile, MLB Network averaged 267,000 viewers for its game telecasts in April, up 15% from the same time period last season. The net’s “MLB Tonight” show averaged 179,000 viewers, up 39%. Those gains led MLB Network to its most-viewed regular-season month in network history (253,000 viewers in primetime during April – up 30%, and total-viewership was 126,000 – up 48%). During FS1’s first season of broadcasting MLB games, the net is averaging 489,000 viewers through eight telecasts. (SportsBusinessDaily).

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