PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 27: Mitchell Trubisky of North Carolina poses after being picked #2 overall by the Chicago Bears (from 49ers) during the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Ratings News and Notes

  • Factoring television and streaming data, ESPN scored its fourth most-watched first round of the 2017 NFL Draft on Apr. 27 (6.92 million viewers) since the new primetime format began in 2010. It was a seven percent increase over ESPN’s audience for round 1 in 2016 (6.487 million).

    On television, the telecast peaked in the 9-9:30 p.m. ET half hour with a 4.6 rating and 7.779 million viewers.

    For the fourth consecutive year, Cleveland was the highest-rated metered market for Round 1 on ESPN, averaging a 12.6. Philadelphia, the host city for this year’s NFL Draft, was the No. 2 rated market on solely ESPN with a 9.1 – the highest rating in Philadelphia across all rounds of the NFL Draft on ESPN/ESPN2 since the new primetime format began in 2010. Remaining top-10 metered markets for ESPN’s coverage included Columbus, Ohio (9.0), Greenville, S.C. (8.7), Birmingham, Ala. (7.6), Dayton (7.6), Charlotte (6.9), New Orleans (6.9), Buffalo (6.8) and Norfolk, Va. (6.6). (Source: ESPN)

    The draft’s lower rounds showed slight declines on the TV side from 2016: Rounds 2-3 on ESPN (2.33 million, down 3 percent) and ESPN2 (2.21 million, down 0.3 percent) on Apr. 28; Rounds 4-7 on ESPN on Apr. 29 (1.61 million, down 6 percent).

  • Due to the NFL Draft, every ESPN daily afternoon program, especially NFL Live and the now-defunct NFL Insiders, experienced multi-week highs in weekly average viewership.

  • There were slight declines for each of the Game 6s of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on ESPN Apr. 28. The prime time matchup of Boston-Chicago (2.22 million viewers and 1.13 million adults 18-49) was -5 percent in viewers and -7 percent among adults 18-49 from Miami-Charlotte Game 6 one year ago (Apr. 29, 2016: 2.34 million, 1.21 million adults 18-49). In late night, L.A. Clippers-Utah (2.84 million viewers and 1.44 million adults 18-49) was -3 percent in viewers and -8 percent among adults 18-49 from L.A. Clippers-Portland Game 6 one year ago (Apr. 29, 2016: 2.91 million, 1.57 million adults 18-49)

  • The three-game 2017 NBA D-League Finals series on ESPNU between Raptors 905 and Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Apr. 23, 25 & 27) averaged 17,000 viewers, down 28 percent from the year-ago Finals: Sioux Falls-L.A. D-Fenders (Apr. 24 and 26-27, 2016: 23,000).

  • The second week of professional bowling’s 2017 L.L. Bean PBA League Elias Cup (quarterfinals) on ESPN (Apr. 30; 446,000 viewers) was down 11 percent from the year-ago PBA League Quarterfinals (Apr. 24, 2016; 502,000 viewers) and up 10 percent from two years ago (Apr. 5, 2015; 406,000 viewers).

  • With just one additional Sunday edition remaining, the Apr. 30 edition of The Sports Reporters drew 415,000 viewers and 199,000 adults 18-49 on ESPN; -30 percent and -41 percent, respectively, from the year-ago ESPN telecast (591,000 viewers/335,000 adults 18-49 from May 1, 2016).

espnlogo

ESPN Top 25 (and Select) Programs


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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN is up +52 percent (1,931,000 vs. 1,273,000) from one week earlier and down -1 percent (1,931,000 vs. 1,955,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN is up +31 (778,000 vs. 593,000) from one week earlier and down -4 percent (778,000 vs. 807,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

ESPN’s daily programs viewership averages for the week:

  • “First Take” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 492,000 (294,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Outside the Lines: First Report” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 338,000 (216,000 adults 18-49)
  • “NFL Insiders” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 392,000 (232 000 adults 18-49)
  • “NFL Live” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 423,000 (237,000 adults 18-49)
  • “NBA: The Jump” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 389,000 (229,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsNation” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 417,000 (255,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Highly Questionable” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 474,000 (283,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Around the Horn” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 530,000 (295,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Pardon the Interruption” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28): 789,000 (408,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28 7 a.m.): 381,000 (234,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28 8 a.m.): 368,000 (230,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28 9 a.m.): 376,000 (233,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SC6 with Michael and Jemele” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28 6 p.m.): 531,000 (325,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, Apr. 24-26 11 p.m.): 293,000 (170,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, Apr. 24-27 midnight): 834,000 (520,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter at Night” (ESPN, Apr. 24-28 1 a.m.): 664,000 (414,000 adults 18-49)

ESPN2

ESPN2 Top 25 (and Select) Programs


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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN2 is up +306 percent (459,000 vs. 113,000) from one week earlier and up +3 percent (459,000 vs. 446,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN2 is up +31 percent (190,000 vs. 145,000) from one week earlier and down -23 percent (190,000 vs. 248,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

ESPN2’s daily show viewership averages for the week:

  • “Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPN2, Apr. 24-28): 231,000 (112,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Dan Le Batard Show (live)” (ESPN2, Apr. 24-28): 92,000 (54,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Nacion ESPN” (ESPN2, Apr. 24 5 p.m.): 85,000 (51,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Baseball Tonight (late night)” (ESPN2, Apr. 24 & 26): 141,000 (81,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Jalen & Jacoby” (ESPN2, Apr. 24-28): 128,000 (79,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Best of Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPN2, Apr. 26-27): 70,000 (41,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, Apr. 24-28 10 a.m.): 145,000 (78,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, Apr. 24-28 11 a.m.): 142,000 (82,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, Apr. 24 & 26-28 7 p.m.): 139,000 (69,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, Apr. 27 11 p.m.): 101,000 (52,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, Apr. 28 midnight): 700,000 (448,000 adults 18-49)

ESPNU

ESPNU Top 25 (and Select) Programs


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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPNU is up +128 percent (82,000 vs. 36,000) from one week earlier and up +28 percent (82,000 vs. 64,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPNU is up +63 percent (31,000 vs. 19,000) from one week earlier and down -6 percent (31,000 vs. 33,000) from the same week one year ago (April 25-May 1, 2016).

ESPNU’s daily show viewership averages for the week:

  • “Dan Le Batard Show” (ESPNU, Apr. 24-28): 21,000 (13,000 adults 18-49)

Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research

About Douglas Pucci

Douglas Pucci is a contributor to Programming Insider and blogger at Son of the Bronx.