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Audience Analysis: NASCAR Stays Strong Post-Daytona; Cavs, Hawks Get Big Local Numbers

Fox averaged 9.5 million viewers for NASCAR’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, marking the most-viewed non-Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series race since ’11. The second race of the season was up 8% from 8.8 million viewers last year, when Phoenix held the second event. It also was the best audience for an Atlanta Sprint Cup race since ’08, when the track still had two Sprint Cup races annually. Last year, Atlanta’s lone race came on Labor Day weekend and aired on ESPN. No non-Daytona 500 NASCAR race has averaged over 10 million viewers since ’11.

ABOVE THE RIM: Audiences continue to watch the return of LeBron James to the Cavaliers. ABC drew 6.9 million viewers for Cavs-Rockets last Sunday afternoon, marking the NBA’s best non-Christmas game on ABC since last January. The game drew a 15.8 local rating in Cleveland-Akron, marking the best figure in the market for an NBA regular-season game on ABC or ESPN in five years. Houston also drew an 8.6 local rating, which is the best for a regular-season game on ABC or ESPN in seven years. Meanwhile, TNT's broadcast of Warriors-Cavaliers on Feb. 26 was the most-watched sports telecast on all of cable TV for the week ending March 1….SportSouth averaged a 3.7 local rating in Atlanta for 11 Hawks games in February, marking the RSN’s best month on record for the team. Hawks ratings on SportSouth are up 120% compared to the same point last season.

ON BROADWAY: NBC drew 1.4 million viewers for Rangers-Flyers on Saturday night, which was the first scheduled NHL Saturday regular-season primetime telecast on broadcast TV since ’74. The game delivered NBC a primetime win among the major four broadcast nets among males 18-34. Among all broadcast nets, it was the 11th most-viewed program on Saturday night. Meanwhile, NBCSN drew a 2.2 local rating in N.Y. for Rangers-Red Wings on Wednesday night, marking the best NHL regular-season game in the market ever on the cable net.

RONDA HELPED ME: FS1 drew 1.2 million viewers for the UFC prelims last Saturday night ahead of the Ronda Rousey-Cat Zingano bout, marking the net’s third-best UFC prelims on record.

The charts below list final ratings from recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Folds of Honor
QuikTrip 500 (Atlanta)
3/1
Fox
2:15-6:15pm
5.6
9,500
NBA: Cavaliers-Rockets
3/1
ABC
3:31-6:40pm
2.8
4,323
College basketball: Arkansas-Kentucky
2/28
CBS
4:13-6:30pm
1.9
2,877
PGA Tour: Honda Classic: Third/Final Round*
3/1
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
1.7
2,631
NBA: Clippers-Bulls
3/1
ABC
12:56-3:31pm
1.7
2,514
College basketball: Michigan State-Wisconsin
3/1
CBS
4:30-6:12pm
1.3
1,989
College basketball: North Carolina-Miami
2/28
CBS
2:20-4:13pm
1.1
1,508
NHL: Rangers-Flyers
2/28
NBC
8:00-10:30pm
0.8
1,400
Liga MX: Chivas de Guadalajara-Monterrey
3/1
UniMas
5:49-8:00pm
0.6
1,323
PBR: Iron Cowboy
3/1
CBS
1:00-2:00pm
0.8
1,216
College basketball: SMU-UConn
3/1
CBS
2:00-4:30pm
0.8
1,192
Liga MX: Club America-Leones Negroes
2/28
Univision
5:55-8:00pm
0.6
1,126
"NBA Countdown"
3/1
ABC
12:30-12:56pm
0.8
1,121
"Skating & Gymnastics Spectacular"
2/28
ABC
4:00-6:00pm
0.7
1,015
USSA Grand Prix: Slopestyle
3/1
NBC
12:00-2:00pm
0.6
918
College basketball: Georgetown-St. John's
2/28
CBS
12:00-2:20pm
0.7
884
"Red Bull Frozen Rush"
3/1
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.5
831
"EPL Match of the Day"
2/28
NBC
1:00-3:00pm
0.4
596
College basketball: Villanova-Xavier
2/28
Fox
2:00-4:15pm
0.4
566
Liga MX: Leon-Santos Laguna
2/28
Telemundo
9:00-11:07pm
0.2
487
"The Grantland Basketball Hour"
2/28
ABC
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
430
Liga MX: Tijuana-Pachuca
2/27
Azateca
10:31pm-12:34am
0.2
430
"World of X Games: Air + Style L.A."
2/28
ABC
3:00-4:00pm
0.4
425
"Premier League Download:
The Southampton Way"
2/28
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.3
406
TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NBA: Warriors-Cavaliers
2/26
TNT
8:14-10:46pm
1.7
2,644
College basketball: Syracuse-Duke
2/28
ESPN
7:21-9:08pm
1.4
2,261
NBA: Thunder-Trail Blazers
2/27
ESPN
10:35pm-1:08am
1.1
1,682
NBA: Thunder-Suns
2/26
TNT
10:46pm-1:43am
1.1
1,548
College basketball: Texas-Kansas
2/28
ESPN
4:57-7:21pm
1.0
1,531
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
Hisense 250 (Atlanta)
2/28
FS1
2:00-4:40pm
1.0
1,516
College basketball: Wisconsin-Maryland
2/24
ESPN
7:00-9:03pm
1.0
1,504
College basketball: Arizona-Utah
2/28
ESPN
9:08-11:36pm
0.9
1,376
NBA: Clippers-Rockets
2/25
ESPN
8:04-11:38pm
0.9
1,300
College basketball: Kansas-Kansas State
2/23
ESPN
9:05-11:12pm
0.8
1,252

NOTE: * = No live coverage on Saturday due to rain. Final round concluded on Monday.

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 18, 2024

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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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