HBO averaged 847,000 viewers for its five premiere episodes of “Hard Knocks” featuring the Texans this season, marking the series’ best average since ’10, when the show focused on the Jets. It also is the show’s second-best viewership since ’02. “Hard Knocks” concluded on Tuesday night with 894,000 viewers, which was the most-viewed finale since ’10. Only episode four this season drew a better audience (933,000 viewers). “Hard Knocks” this season was up 29% over last year, when the show focused on the Falcons.
QUARTER MASTERS: ESPN finished with 1.21 million viewers for U.S. Open quarterfinal coverage on Tuesday night from 7:07pm-1:12am ET, marking the net’s second-best tennis window on record, behind only the ’12 Roger Federer-Andy Murray four-set Wimbledon final. The telecast on Tuesday featured Serena Williams’ three-set win over her sister Venus, with that match alone at the beginning of the window averaging 5.998 million viewers.
NOTES: NFL Network on Thursday night drew 465,000 viewers for the premiere of “Do Your Job: Bill Belichick and the 2014 Patriots.” The documentary drew 172,000 viewers in the Boston TV market....SNY on Tuesday drew a 4.56 local rating in N.Y. for Mets-Nationals, marking the RSN’s best Mets game since a matchup against the Tigers on June 23, 2010. “Mets Post Game Live” also drew a 2.8 local rating, marking the show’s best figure since May 27, 2009....NBCSN drew 461,000 viewers for the F1 Italian Grand Prix on Sunday morning from 7:30-9:43am, marking the race’s best audience since ESPN drew 876,000 viewers in ’95. NBCSN’s F1 races are averaging 441,000 viewers through eight telecasts this season to date, up 14% compared to the first eight races last season.
The charts below list final audience figures from recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| College football: Alabama-Wisconsin |
9/5
|
ABC
|
8:07-11:46pm
|
7,967
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Bojangles' Southern 500 (Darlington) |
9/6
|
NBC
|
7:30-11:58pm
|
5,918
|
| College football: Texas-Notre Dame |
9/5
|
NBC
|
7:30-11:01pm
|
4,060
|
| College football: Auburn-Louisville |
9/5
|
CBS
|
3:30-7:15pm
|
4,010
|
| College football: BYU-Nebraska |
9/5
|
ABC
|
3:30-7:00pm
|
3,134
|
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship:
Final Round |
9/7
|
NBC
|
1:30-6:07pm
|
2,958
|
PGA Tour: Deutsche Bank Championship:
Third Round |
9/6
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
2,700
|
| Soccer friendly: Mexico-Trinidad & Tobago |
9/4
|
UniMas
|
9:53pm-12:05am
|
1,889
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series: VFW Sport Clips
Help a Hero 200 (Darlington) |
9/5
|
NBC
|
3:45-5:15pm
|
1,700
|
| "College Football Today" |
9/5
|
CBS
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
1,502
|
| College football: Virginia-UCLA |
9/5
|
Fox
|
3:30-7:00pm
|
1,350
|
| "College Football Countdown" |
9/5
|
ABC
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
1,081
|
| "NASCAR Countdown to Green" |
9/5
|
NBC
|
3:00-3:45pm
|
951
|
| Soccer friendly: U.S.-Peru |
9/4
|
UniMas
|
7:23-9:37pm
|
766
|
| Dew Tour: L.A. Skate Streetstyle (taped) |
9/5
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:00pm
|
521
|
| Liga MX: Chivas de Guadalajara-Leon |
9/5
|
UniMas
|
10:20pm-12:36am
|
497
|
| "World of X Games: Nike BMX" |
9/6
|
ABC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
350
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
College Football:
North Carolina-South Carolina |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
5:54-9:19pm
|
3,601
|
| College Football: Stanford-Northwestern |
9/5
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:03pm
|
3,214
|
| College Football: Michigan-Utah |
9/3
|
FS1
|
8:29-11:50pm
|
2,868
|
| College Football: TCU-Minnesota |
9/3
|
ESPN
|
9:19pm-12:48am
|
2,621
|
College Football:
Arizona State-Texas A&M |
9/5
|
ESPN
|
7:04-10:54pm
|
2,471
|
| "College GameDay" |
9/5
|
ESPN
|
9:00am-12:00pm
|
2,232
|
| College Football: Washington-Boise State |
9/4
|
ESPN
|
10:33pm-1:39am
|
2,058
|
| College Football: Baylor-SMU |
9/4
|
ESPN
|
6:58-10:33pm
|
2,003
|
| College Football: Penn State-Temple |
9/5
|
ESPN
|
3:30-6:58pm
|
1,912
|
| MLB: Pirates-Cardinals |
9/6
|
ESPN
|
8:00-10:57pm
|
1,784
|
