Mike and the Mad Dog

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Ratings News and Notes

  • Like Yankees rookie slugger Aaron Judge, ESPN reigned supreme on night of Monday, July 10 with the 2017 edition of “MLB Home Run Derby”, the sport’s perennial pre-All-Star event. From 8-11 p.m., ESPN led among total viewers (approx. 7 million), adults 18-49 (approx. 2.3 rating), adults 18-34 (approx. 1.9 rating), and adults 25-54 (approx. 2.5 rating).

    It was the most-watched Home Run Derby telecast since 2008 and the second-most watched since 1999, according to Fast Nationals from Nielsen. ESPN generated an average total live audience of 8.689 million viewers, up 55 percent from last year. The total live audience includes ESPN, ESPN2’s Spanish-language simulcast, ESPN Deportes and English and Spanish streaming viewers.

    The event: (1) drew its largest Hispanic audience ever, tripling last year’s viewership; (2) was the most-streamed ESPN MLB event ever, drawing an average minute audience of 209,900 viewers; and (3) reached its highest local ratings in both the New York (10.8 rating) and Los Angeles markets as far as Derby records go back (since 1998).

    The Derby’s top five markets were Kansas City (13.6); New York (10.8); Hartford (9.7); Minneapolis (8.7); and Pittsburgh (7.9).

    (Sources: ESPN [1], [2])

  • There were noticeable declines on the final weekend of the Wimbledon tennis tournament on ESPN.

    The 506-minute window on July 15 that featured Garbiñe Muguruza’s victory over 37-year-old Venus Williams in the Women’s Singles final averaged 937,000 viewers, down 58 percent from the final Wimbledon Saturday last year (July 9, 2016: 1.604 million viewers). Serena Williams defeated Angelique Kerber in 2016 to then equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 grand slam titles in the Open Era. Later that day, Serena joined her sister Venus to win the 2016 Women’s Doubles title.

    For July 16, the Sunday window featuring Roger Federer’s 19th grand slam victory averaged 1.393 million viewers, down 22 percent from one year ago (July 10, 2016: 1.794 million viewers) when Andy Murray had defeated Milos Raoncic.

    The entire tournament on ESPN and ESPN2 averaged 755,000 viewers from July 3-8 and 10-16, off 13 percent from last year (June 27-July 10, 2016: average of 868,000 viewers). It was also down 19 percent from two years ago (June 29-July 4 and July 6-12, 2015: average of 931,000 viewers).

  • ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball in 2017 continues its positive ratings figures from last year. For the David Price-led Boston Red Sox gave the New York Yankees’ first shutout loss of the season on July 16, it registered 2.46 million viewers — it was cable’s most-watched MLB regular season game telecast since Chicago Cubs-St. Louis on Apr. 2 (MLB Opening Night) and it was up 19 percent from the year-ago Boston-N.Y. Yankees Sunday night matchup (2.07 million viewers on July 17, 2016). Thru July 16, “Sunday Night Baseball” averaged 1.859 million viewers this season.

  • There was minimal national interest for the “30 for 30: Mike and the Mad Dog” documentary. Its original telecast on ESPN on July 13 earned a 0.45 U.S. household rating along with 657,000 viewers, marking as the least-watched “30 for 30” documentary in two years (since “Angry Sky” on July 30, 2015: 390,000 viewers). However, there was much better ratings news from the New York TV market from where the “Mike and the Mad Dog” radio show had originated. The telecast did a 2.5 local rating in New York, which is the top-rated 30 for 30/ESPN Films/Nine for IX premiere ever in that market. The previous New York record was for “You Don’t Know Bo” on Dec. 8 2012 (2.1 local rating). ESPN reported the 2013 “30 for 30: Big Shot” documentary had been the most New York-skewed ’30 for 30′ prior to ‘Mike and the Mad Dog’. “Big Shot”, about the infamous John Spano scandal that rocked the NHL and the New York Islanders in the mid-90’s, delivered a 2.0 local rating in New York on Oct. 22, 2013.

espnlogo

ESPN Top 25 (and Select) Programs

ESPN ratings for July 10-16, 2017
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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN is up +112 percent (1,640,000 vs. 773,000) from one week earlier and up +20 percent (1,640,000 vs. 1,372,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN is up +31 percent (650,000 vs. 496,000) from one week earlier and up +35 percent (650,000 vs. 482,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

ESPN’s daily programs viewership averages for the week:

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  • “First Take” (ESPN, June 26-30 10 a.m.): 476,000 (264,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “Outside the Lines: First Report” (ESPN, July 13): 284,000 (122,000 adults 18-49)
  • “NFL Live” (ESPN, July 13-14): 309,000 (133,000 adults 18-49)
  • “NBA: The Jump” (ESPN, July 13-14): 283,000 (141,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsNation” (ESPN, July 12-14): 304,000 (162,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Highly Questionable” (ESPN, July 10 & 13-14): 355,000 (213,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Around the Horn” (ESPN, July 10-11 & 13-14): 424,000 (208,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Pardon the Interruption” (ESPN, July 10-11 & 13-14): 626,000 (293,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, July 10 & 12 7 a.m.): 244,000 (143,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, June 26-30 8 a.m.): 282,000 (144,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, June 26-30 9 a.m.): 335,000 (176,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, July 10-14 6 p.m.): 356,000 (197,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, July 10-14 11 p.m.): 478,000 (261,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN, July 11-12 midnight): 355,000 (211,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter at Night” (ESPN, July 11-12 & 14 1 a.m.): 332,000 (180,000 adults 18-49)

ESPN2

ESPN2 Top 25 (and Select) Programs

ESPN2 ratings for July 10-16, 2017
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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN2 is up +61 percent (374,000 vs. 232,000) from one week earlier and up +58 percent (374,000 vs. 236,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN2 is up +13 percent (209,000 vs. 185,000) from one week earlier and up +19 percent (209,000 vs. 176,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

ESPN2’s daily show viewership averages for the week:

  • “Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPN2, July 10-14): 133,000 (6(,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “Dan Le Batard Show (live)” (ESPN2, June 26-30): 76,000 (47,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “MLB Network’s Intentional Talk” (ESPN2, July 10-12 & 14): 119,000 (52,000 adults 18-49)
  • “College Football Live” (ESPN2, July 12-14 5 p.m.): 115,000 (59,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Nacion ESPN” (ESPN2, July 10 7-8 p.m.): 112,000 (43,000 adults 18-49)
  • “ESPN FC” (ESPN2, July 12 6 p.m.): 86,000 (51,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Best of Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPN2, Late July 10-11 5 a.m.): 64,000 (34,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Outside the Lines: First Report” (ESPN2, July 14): 190,000 (111,000 adults 18-49)
  • “NFL Live” (ESPN2, July 11-12 &amp: 14): 155,000 (74,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsNation” (ESPN2, July 11): 258,000 (151,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Highly Questionable” (ESPN2, July 11): 189,000 (99,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 11 & 13-14 7 a.m.): 170,000 (96,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 13-14 8 a.m.): 184,000 (105,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 13-14 9 a.m.): 195,000 (110,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 13-14 10 a.m.): 19@,000 (109,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 13-14 11 a.m.): 214,000 (120,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 3 & 6-7): 171,000 (80,000 adults 18-49)
  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 4 11 p.m.): 114,000 (53,000 adults 18-49)
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  • “SportsCenter” (ESPN2, July 3 midnight): 116,000 (66,000 adults 18-49)
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ESPNU

ESPNU Top 25 (and Select) Programs

ESPNU ratings for July 10-16, 2017
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In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPNU is up +14 percent (58,000 vs. 51,000) from one week earlier and up +18 percent (58,000 vs. 49,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPNU is up +3 percent (35,000 vs. 34,000) from one week earlier and up +17 percent (35,000 vs. 30,000) from the same week one year ago (July 11-17, 2016).

ESPNU’s daily show viewership averages for the week:

  • “Mike & Mike in the Morning” (ESPNU, July 12): 41,000 (15,000 adults 18-49)
  • “Dan Le Batard Show” (ESPNU, July 10-11 & 13-14): 21,000 (12,000 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.