Rating Summary – The NBA returned from its All-Star hiatus with double-digit gains at TNT; Tiger Woods drove Riviera to a four-year high; the NHL Stadium Series scored on its televised return; and more.
The NBA returns from the All-Star hiatus with double-digit wins at TNT
Thursday’s NBA regular-season game for the Warriors-Lakers averaged 1.88 million viewers on TNT, up 41% from the Warriors-Blazers in the same window last year (1.34 million). The Lakers’ win ranks 20th in viewership of the season, with the Warriors (9) and Lakers (7) appearing in more of the top 20 games than any other team.
The Grizzlies-Sixers lead-in drew 1.44 million, up 20% from the Celtics-Nets (1.20 million) a year ago.
Tiger lifts Riviera to four-year high
CBS coverage of the PGA Tour Genesis Invitational from Los Angeles — Tiger Wood’s first event of the season — averaged 3.12 million viewers this past weekend, up 32% from last year and the highest average for the tournament since 2019 (3.31 million).
Coverage of last Sunday’s latest round garnered a rating of 2.1 and 3.42 million viewers, a 31% increase in ratings and viewership over the previous year (1.6, 2.62 million), however still below where it was two years ago (2.2, ~3.6m). Action in Round 3 the previous day drew 1.8 and 2.84 million, a 32% increase in ratings and 33% in viewership (from 1.3m to 2.13m) and the largest audience in the PGA Tour on Saturday for almost two years – since The Players Championship in 2021 (29M).
Caps-Canes has been the best outdoor game outside of Winter Classic for four years
Last Saturday’s Capitals-Hurricanes NHL Stadium Series game had an average rating of 0.6 and 1.14 million viewers on ABC, making it the largest audience for an outdoor game outside of the Winter Classic since the Flyers-Penguins on NBC in the year 2019 (1.94 million). (That excludes the NBC portion of the NHL’s Lake Tahoe game two years ago, which was postponed due to weather conditions and wrapped up on NBCSN.)
As you’d expect, ratings and viewership increased compared to last year’s Stadium Series game on TNT (Lightning-Predators: 0.26, 634K).
Among other things, ESPN averaged 253,000 viewers Thursday for Flames-Golden Knights — 48% down from Capitals-Rangers in a previous window last year (485,000) — and 458,000 for Ducks-Kings last Friday. TNT deposited just 194,000 chips for the Blackhawks stars as of Wednesday night.
Plus: XFL, CBB, Softball
Thursday’s St. Louis-Seattle XFL regular season game averaged 553,000 viewers on FX, which was the night’s largest audience across ESPN, ESPN2 and FX, according to ESPN. Viewership was still the lowest of the week-long season and behind any previous XFL game three years ago. … Last Saturday’s Baylor-Kansas men’s college basketball game garnered an average rating of .85 and 1.56 million viewers on ESPN, up from Tennessee-Arkansas in the same window last year (.7, 1.32 million). .) and the biggest college basketball crowd in the past week. … Last Sunday’s Florida State-Alabama Clearwater Invitational college softball game averaged a .33 and 549,000 on ESPN, down from UCLA-FSU in a similar window last year (.36, 648,000) but the second largest audience the case in the four-year history.
(Nielsen estimates by ShowBuzz Daily, Network PR)