ESPN drew 3.15 million viewers for the Heisman Trophy presentation on Saturday night, marking the telecast’s smallest audience in at least a decade. Oregon QB Marcus Mariota was the overwhelming favorite heading into the telecast. The viewership was down 25% from Florida State QB Jameis Winston’s win last year. Meanwhile, ESPN drew 1.89 million viewers for its "30 For 30" documentary “The U Part 2” following the Heisman telecast, down from 1.97 million viewers for the premiere of “Youngstown Boys” following last year’s telecast. The original doc, “The U,” which debuted after a strong audience for the ’09 Heisman telecast (Alabama RB Mark Ingram’s win), drew 2.37 million viewers.
|
HEISMAN TROPHY PRESENTATION AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN
|
|
YEAR
|
WINNER |
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'14
|
Oregon QB Marcus Mariota |
3,151
|
|
'13
|
Florida State QB Jameis Winston |
4,183
|
|
'12
|
Texas A&M QB Johnny Manziel |
4,902
|
|
'11
|
Baylor QB Robert Griffin III |
4,603
|
|
'10
|
Auburn QB Cam Newton |
3,784
|
|
'09
|
Alabama RB Mark Ingram |
5,990
|
|
'08
|
Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford |
4,151
|
| |
|
|
FIGHT NIGHT: Fox finished with 2.77 million viewers for its UFC telecast on Saturday night, which featured Junior dos Santos' win over Stipe Miocic. That figure is down from 2.84 million viewers for the UFC telecast in the same slot last December, which featured Demetrious Johnson's win over Joseph Benavidez. The 2.77 million viewers marks the second-best Fox-UFC audience this year. The telecast also delivered Fox a primetime win on Saturday among males 18-34 and 18-49, as well as all adults 18-34. The UFC prelims on FS1 at 5:00pm ET delivered 654,000 viewers, up 7% from the comparable prelims last December.
The chart below lists final audience figures from recent sports telecasts on broadcast and cable TV.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| NFL: 49ers-Seahawks (84%) |
12/14
|
Fox
|
4:25-7:30pm
|
15.7
|
26,479
|
| "Sunday Night Football": Cowboys-Eagles |
12/14
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:40pm
|
14.3
|
24,251
|
| NFL: (singleheader) |
12/14
|
CBS
|
1:03-4:14pm
|
11.1
|
18,679
|
| NFL: (regional) |
12/14
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
9.9
|
16,158
|
| "The OT" |
12/14
|
Fox
|
7:27-8:00pm
|
7.7
|
12,746
|
| "Football Night in America" |
12/14
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
5.4
|
9,015
|
| College Football: Navy-Army |
12/13
|
CBS
|
2:56-6:21pm
|
4.1
|
6,259
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
12/14
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3.3
|
4,999
|
| "The NFL Today" |
12/14
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:03pm
|
2.3
|
3,532
|
Liga MX: Apertura final: 2nd leg:
Club America-Tigres UANL |
12/14
|
Univision
|
6:55-9:14pm
|
1.4
|
2,991
|
| College Basketball: North Carolina-Kentucky |
12/13
|
CBS
|
12:00-2:30pm
|
1.8
|
2,829
|
| "UFC on Fox 13": Junior dos Santos d. Stipe Miocic |
12/13
|
Fox
|
8:00-10:35pm
|
1.6
|
2,774
|
Liga MX: Apertura final: 1st leg:
Club America-Tigres UANL |
12/9
|
UniMas
|
9:24-11:32pm
|
1.1
|
2,240
|
| Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest |
12/14
|
CBS
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,247
|
| "Unforgettable Holiday Moments on Ice" |
12/14
|
ABC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
1,068
|
| "World of X Games: ASP Surfing Maui Women's Pro" |
12/13
|
ABC
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.7
|
906
|
| "ESPN Sports Saturday" |
12/13
|
ABC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
829
|
| "ESPN All America Team Show" |
12/13
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
727
|
| Golf: PNC Father/Son Challenge |
12/14
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.5
|
680
|
| Golf: PNC Father/Son Challenge |
12/13
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.5
|
675
|
| Golf: Franklin Templeton Shootout |
12/13
|
Fox
|
1:00-5:00pm
|
0.4
|
583
|
| Dew Tour: Breckenridge |
12/13
|
NBC
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
558
|
| Dew Tour: Breckenridge |
12/14
|
NBC
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
392
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| "Monday Night Football": Falcons-Packers |
12/8
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:46pm
|
8.5
|
13,958
|
| "Thursday Night Football": Cardinals-Rams |
12/11
|
NFL Net
|
8:27-11:35pm
|
4.7
|
7,669
|
| Heisman Trophy Presentation |
12/13
|
ESPN
|
8:00-9:08pm
|
2.0
|
3,151
|
| "Thursday Night Football Pre-Kick" |
12/11
|
NFL Net
|
8:00-8:27pm
|
1.8
|
2,941
|
| NBA: Cavaliers-Thunder |
12/11
|
TNT
|
8:14-10:44pm
|
1.5
|
2,307
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
12/8
|
ESPN
|
6:00-8:15pm
|
1.5
|
2,266
|
| NBA: Lakers-Spurs |
12/12
|
ESPN
|
9:36pm-12:21am
|
1.4
|
2,170
|
| "30 for 30": "The U Part 2" |
12/13
|
ESPN
|
9:08-11:07pm
|
1.2
|
1,877
|
FCS Quarterfinal:
North Dakota State-Coastal Carolina |
12/13
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:18pm
|
1.1
|
1,447
|
| NBA: Knicks-Spurs |
12/10
|
ESPN
|
8:04-10:35pm
|
0.9
|
1,368
|
