ESPN’s NFL Draft Coverage Gets Second-Biggest Audience Ever

NFL Draft Draws Second-Most Viewers In 28 Years On ESPN

The NFL says that coverage of this year’s NFL Draft on ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network reached nearly 38 million total viewers this weekend, marking six consecutive years of growth and the most-viewed draft of all time. Coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 marked the second-most-viewed and tied for the second-highest-rated draft in ESPN’s 28-year history televising the event. ESPN’s eight hours of coverage on Saturday earned a 4.3 cable Nielsen rating and averaged 4.011 million HHs. ESPN2’s three-plus hours of coverage Saturday night earned a 1.4 with an average of 1.335 million HHs. ESPN’s seven-plus hours on Sunday earned a 1.6 with an average of 1.526 million HHs. The chart below shows an eight-year ratings and HH trend for ESPN’s Saturday and Sunday NFL Draft coverage. NFL Network earned a 0.8 cable rating for its ten-hours of coverage on Saturday, translating into about 312,000 HHs, and a 0.4 for seven hours on Sunday, or about 175,000 HHs (THE DAILY).

ESPN's NFL DRAFT RATINGS TREND
	SATURDAY				SUNDAY
YEAR	HRS	RAT	% +/-	HHs	HRS	RAT	% +/-	HHs
'07	8	4.3	-6.5%	4,011,000	7	1.6	-15.8%	1,526,000
'06	8	4.6	7.0%	4,210,000	7	1.9	5.6%	1,739,000
'05	5.5	4.3	13.2%	3,844,000	7	1.8	-14.3%	1,635,000
'04	7	3.8	26.7%	3,390,000	2	2.1	40.0%	1,830,000
'03	10	3.0	3.4%	2,601,000	6.5	1.5	0.0%	1,289,000
'02	7	2.9	7.4%	2,475,000	4	1.5	-11.8%	1,263,000
'01	7	2.7	-15.6%	2,168,000	2	1.7	6.2%	1,419,000
'00	7	3.2	-----	2,441,000	2	1.6	-----	1,265,000

ON THE WEB: Hitwise data found that ESPN.com was the most-visited sports Web site on both days of the NFL Draft. The site generated 175 million page views over the two days, up 35% from ’06, giving the site two of the ten most-viewed days in its history....Hitwise data also showed that Internet searches for QB Brady Quinn, who was drafted No. 22 overall by the Browns, were five times that of QB JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick by the Raiders, for the week that ended Saturday. Quinn accounted for 0.00454% of search volume for the week, compared to 0.00087% for Russell.... SI.com’s ’07 NFL Draft coverage saw a 125% jump in page views from last year, and its new Draft video feature, Film Room, which provided game footage of more than 200 draft prospects, generated more than two million video views in three weeks (THE DAILY).