Ed Note: We’re pleased to welcome Douglas Pucci to Awful Announcing, who you might know better as Son of the Bronx. Douglas built an impressive database of public ratings for television networks that were an invaluable resource for those interested in the media world. At AA, he will have the Top 10 programs from each of the sports networks every week, as well as data trends in viewership.
ESPN Top 10 Programs
| RANK | PROGRAM | DAY | TIME | DUR | HH | VWRS (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WORLD CUP SOCCER: Argentina/Netherlands | Wed | 3:00PM- 6:51PM | 231 | 3.5 | 5513 |
| 2 | WORLD CUP SOCCER: Germany/Brazil | Tue | 3:00PM- 6:06PM | 186 | 3.2 | 5112 |
| 3 | SPORTSCENTER EARLY (live) | Wed | 6:51PM- 7:00PM | 9 | 2.8 | 4689 |
| 4 | WORLD CUP SOCCER: Netherlands/Brazil | Sat | 3:30PM- 6:03PM | 153 | 2.5 | 4215 |
| 5 | SPORTSCENTER EARLY (live) | Tue | 6:06PM- 7:00PM | 54 | 1.7 | 2678 |
| 6 | WORLD CUP LIVE (live) | Wed | 7:00PM- 8:00PM | 60 | 1.2 | 2020 |
| 7 | MLB SUNDAY NIGHT: N.Y. Yankees/Baltimore | Sun | 8:00PM- 9:49PM | 109 | 1.4 | 2013 |
| 8 | BASEBALL RAIN DELAY (live) | Sun | 9:49PM-10:00PM | 11 | 1.1 | 1630 |
| 9 | SPORTSCENTER EARLY (live) | Sat | 6:03PM- 7:00PM | 57 | 1.0 | 1486 |
| 10 | SPORTSCENTER AM (live) | Fri | 1:00PM- 2:00PM | 60 | 1.0 | 1320 |
In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN is down 5 percent (822,000 vs. 868,000) from one week earlier (when it had aired more World Cup coverage) and up 17 percent (822,000 vs. 704,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN is down 37 percent (850,000 vs. 1.347 million) from one week earlier and up 82 percent (850,000 vs. 466,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
Note: World Cup entries on the week’s list also include the network’s pre-match coverage at the start of each respective match telecast time window.
Here are the viewership figures of ESPN’s July 11th slate of programs as news broke at 12:17 p.m. ET by Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins about LeBron James heading back to his hometown of Cleveland to return playing for the Cavaliers:
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 11 a.m.): 512,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 12:01 p.m.): 880,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 1 p.m.): 1.32 million
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 2 p.m.): 1.106 million
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 3 p.m.): 865,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 4 p.m.): 732,000
- “Around the Horn” (ESPN, 5 p.m.): 1.005 million
- “Pardon the Interruption” (ESPN, 5:30 p.m.): 1.271 million
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 6 p.m.): 988,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 7 p.m.): 756,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 8 p.m.): 691,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 9 p.m.): 497,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 10 p.m.): 488,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 11 p.m.): 646,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPN, 12 a.m.): 684,000
The LeBron James news also gave a small boost to the Sunday morning talkers on July 13, “Outside the Lines” (9 a.m., 0.5 HH rating, 607,000 viewers) and “The Sports Reporters” (9:30 a.m., 0.5 HH rating, 658,000 viewers).
Major League Baseball viewership figures for ESPN:
- “N.Y. Yankees at Cleveland” (ESPN, July 7 at 7-10:12 p.m.): 742,000
- “Pittsburgh at St. Louis” (ESPN, July 9 at 8-11:42 p.m.): 1.023 million
- “Sunday Night Baseball: N.Y. Yankees at Baltimore” (ESPN, July 13 at 8-9:49 p.m.): 2.013 million
ESPN2 Top 10 Programs
| RANK | PROGRAM | DAY | TIME | DUR | HH | VWRS (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES: New Hampshire (July) | Sat | 3:30PM- 6:00PM | 150 | 0.9 | 1347 |
| 2 | NATIONWIDE SERIES COUNTDOWN (live) | Sat | 3:12PM- 3:30PM | 18 | 0.5 | 751 |
| 3 | SPORTSCENTER WEEKEND-PM (live) | Sun | 2:00PM- 3:00PM | 60 | 0.3 | 582 |
| 4 | NHRA SPORTSMAN SERIES | Sat | 6:00PM- 7:00PM | 60 | 0.4 | 549 |
| 5 | AMATEUR SOFTBALL: USA/Mexico | Sat | 1:00PM- 3:12PM | 132 | 0.4 | 524 |
| 6 | PARDON THE INTERRUPTION | Tue | 5:30PM- 6:00PM | 30 | 0.4 | 513 |
| 7 | AMATEUR SOFTBALL: USA/Taiwan | Sat | 8:00PM- 9:45PM | 105 | 0.3 | 472 |
| 8 | PARDON THE INTERRUPTION | Wed | 5:30PM- 6:00PM | 30 | 0.3 | 465 |
| 9 | MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER: Seattle/Portland | Sun | 10:21PM-12:28AM | 127 | 0.3 | 426 |
| 10 | SPORTSCENTER EARLY (live) | Wed | 7:00PM- 7:30PM | 30 | 0.2 | 421 |
In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPN2 is down 44 percent (260,000 vs. 462,000) from one week earlier and up 21 percent (260,000 vs. 215,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPN2 is down 37 percent (219,000 vs. 345,000) from one week earlier and up 22 percent (219,000 vs. 179,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
WNBA viewership figures for ESPN2:
- “Connecticut at Atlanta” (ESPN2, July 8 at 7-9:04 p.m.): 247,000
- “Los Angeles at Minnesota” (ESPN2, July 8 at 9:04 p.m.-11:10 p.m.): 276,000
- “Seattle at Minnesota” (ESPN2, July 13 at 3-5:04 p.m.): 205,000
Additional ESPN2 ratings notes:
- The per-minute viewer average of golf’s “Women’s British Open” (225,000 viewers) thru its entire four rounds of play (July 10-13) on ESPN2 was down 17 percent from last year’s tournament (Aug. 1-4, 2013: 271,000 viewers).
- Boxing on July 11th (9-11 p.m.) averaged 389,000 viewers and a 0.3 household rating.
- The ISKA (International Sports Karate Association) World Championship on July 12th (9-11 p.m.) averaged 285,000 viewers and a 0.2 household rating.
ESPNU Top 10 Programs
| RANK | PROGRAM | DAY | TIME | DUR | HH | VWRS (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMATEUR SOFTBALL: USA/Japan | Fri | 9:00PM-11:06PM | 126 | 0.1 | 137 |
| 1 | E:60 | Sun | 10:00PM-10:43PM | 43 | 0.0 | 137 |
| 3 | AMATEUR LACROSSE: Australia/U.S. | Sat | 8:57PM-11:00PM | 123 | 0.0 | 130 |
| 4 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL LIVE (live) | Thu | 5:00PM- 5:30PM | 30 | 0.0 | 117 |
| 5 | E:60 | Sat | 7:57PM- 8:57PM | 60 | 0.0 | 110 |
| 6 | STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES | Sun | 11:00AM-11:30AM | 30 | 0.1 | 108 |
| 7 | AMATEUR LACROSSE: Japan/U.S. | Sun | 7:00PM- 9:02PM | 122 | 0.0 | 97 |
| 8 | ESPN ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY | Sun | 12:00PM- 2:00PM | 120 | 0.1 | 84 |
| 9 | STIHL TIMBERSPORTS SERIES | Sun | 11:30AM-12:00PM | 30 | 0.1 | 80 |
| 10 | HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL | Thu | 8:00PM-11:30PM | 210 | 0.0 | 78 |
In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPNU is up 75 percent (77,000 vs. 44,000) from one week earlier and up 75 percent (77,000 vs. 44,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPNU is down 3 percent (35,000 vs. 36,000) from one week earlier and up 35 percent (35,000 vs. 26,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
ESPNEWS Top 10 Programs
| RANK | PROGRAM | DAY | TIME | DUR | HH | VWRS (000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SPORTSCENTER AFTERNOON (live) | Fri | 5:00PM- 6:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 266 |
| 2 | SPORTSCENTER WEEKEND-PM (live) | Sat | 8:00PM- 8:59PM | 59 | 0.2 | 247 |
| 3 | SPORTSCENTER WEEKEND-PM (live) | Sat | 10:00PM-11:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 246 |
| 4 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Tue | 10:00PM-11:00PM | 60 | 0.1 | 242 |
| 5 | SPORTSCENTER AFTERNOON (live) | Fri | 4:00PM- 5:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 241 |
| 6 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Thu | 9:00PM-10:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 239 |
| 7 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Thu | 7:00PM- 8:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 238 |
| 8 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Thu | 8:00PM- 9:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 236 |
| 9 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Thu | 10:00PM-11:29PM | 89 | 0.2 | 234 |
| 10 | SPORTSCENTER PRIME (live) | Wed | 10:00PM-11:00PM | 60 | 0.2 | 230 |
In total viewership for its entire week in Prime Time (8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), ESPNEWS is up 27 percent (191,000 vs. 150,000) from one week earlier and up 93 percent (191,000 vs. 99,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
In total viewership for its entire week in Total Day (6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m.), ESPNEWS is down 10 percent (82,000 vs. 91,000) from one week earlier and up 37 percent (82,000 vs. 60,000) from the same week one year ago (July 8-14, 2013).
Here are the viewership figures of ESPNEWS’s July 11th slate of programs as news broke at 12:17 p.m. ET by Sports Illustrated writer Lee Jenkins about LeBron James heading back to his hometown of Cleveland to return playing for the Cavaliers:
- “First Take” (ESPNEWS, 10 a.m.): 105,000
- “Mike and Mike in the Morning” (ESPNEWS, 12 p.m.): 87,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 12:44 p.m.): 44,000
- “SVP & Russillo” (ESPNEWS, 1 p.m.): 53,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 3 p.m.): 112,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 4 p.m.): 241,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 5 p.m.): 266,000
- “Around the Horn” (ESPNEWS, 6 p.m.): 200,000
- “Pardon the Interruption” (ESPNEWS, 6:30 p.m.): 156,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 7 p.m.): 177,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 8 p.m.): 215,000
- “SportsCenter” (ESPNEWS, 9 p.m.): 201,000
Canadian Football League: Ottawa/Edmonton on ESPNEWS Friday, July 11 (10:09 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. ET) drew 119,000 viewers.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
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