ESPN Seeing Slight Jump In Viewership For First Week Of Wimbledon Coverage

Wimbledon coverage on ESPN and ESPN2 averaged a 0.5 Nielsen U.S. rating for the first week of the tournament, even with the '11 tournament, and 569,000 HHs, up 8% from last year. Saturday's 10-hour-plus Wimbledon telecast on ESPN earned a 0.9 U.S. rating, the best for a "middle Saturday" since the net's '07 coverage earned a 1.0. Digital consumption on ESPN3 and WatchESPN is up 67% from '11 through the same point in the tourney, with 46.6 million live minutes consumed across all digital platforms (ESPN).

UNDER ANY OTHER NAME: During the fourth-round match between David Ferrer and Juan Martin del Potro, ESPN’s Chris Fowler said “one of the amusing things about Twitter is they have these ... parody accounts: Pseudo Fed, Pseudo Rafa. Very funny.” ESPN’s John McEnroe asked, “You mean fake guys pretending to be these guys?” When Fowler answered yes, McEnroe in a serious tone said, “Why is that funny? Shouldn’t they be arrested as imposters?” Fowler said, “They make it plain that it’s not the real Roger Federer saying the things that Pseudo Fed says. I’m not trying to convince you of the comedy potential of Twitter, I’m just saying it’s out there.” Fowler called it “good-natured parody” and said to McEnroe, “Take it or leave it. I’m not trying to sell you.” McEnroe: “I’ve left it. I haven’t entered it. ... Is there a Pseudo Chris Fowler?” Fowler: “It’d be pretty dull” ("Wimbledon," ESPN, 7/3).