NBC finished the '14-15 PGA Tour season (excluding majors) with an average of 2.5 million viewers, up 5% from 2.36 million viewers last season, but still down from 2.87 million viewers in '13. NBC also saw a 4% viewership gain for its three FedExCup Playoff events this season. Golf Channel saw an increase for its tournament coverage in '14-15, which included early-round telecasts on Thursday and Friday and weekend lead-in telecasts for the majority of CBS and NBC events. The cable net averaged 237,000 viewers for its coverage, up 7% from 221,000 viewers last season. That average also includes the Fall Series events that now begin the season. Looking at just the traditional January-September tournament window, Golf Channel's tourney coverage averaged 260,000 viewers, up 9% from 242,000 viewers. CBS saw its Tour coverage jump 29% this season.
NOTES: ABC drew 571,000 viewers for Game 1 of the Fever-Lynx WNBA Finals last Sunday afternoon, marking the best Finals opener for ABC/ESPN since Comets-Mercury in '98. Fever-Lynx also was up 2% from 558,000 for ABC's Mercury-Sky opener last year....NBC and NBCSN, boosted by American Pharoah's Triple Crown win, combined to average 936,000 viewers for nine races in the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series this season, up 136% from last year's 397,000 viewers.
The charts below list final audience figures from recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| NFL: Packers-49ers (57%) |
10/4
|
Fox
|
4:25-7:30pm
|
25,860
|
"Sunday Night Football":
Cowboys-Saints |
10/4
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:43pm
|
24,184
|
"Thursday Night Football":
Ravens-Steelers |
10/1
|
CBS
|
8:27-11:49pm
|
19,435
|
| NFL: (singleheader) |
10/4
|
CBS
|
1:00-4:25pm
|
15,825
|
| NFL: (regional) |
10/4
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:00pm
|
12,849
|
| NFL: Jets-Dolphins (from London) |
10/4
|
CBS
|
9:37am-1:09pm
|
9,856
|
| "Football Night In America" |
10/4
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
9,592
|
College football:
Notre Dame-Clemson |
10/3
|
ABC
|
8:07-11:53pm
|
7,647
|
| College football: (regional) |
10/3
|
ABC
|
3:35-7:31pm
|
7,298
|
| College football: Alabama-Georgia |
10/3
|
CBS
|
3:30-7:07pm
|
7,045
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
10/4
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
3,247
|
| "The NFL Today" |
10/4
|
CBS
|
9:00-9:37am
|
3,225
|
| College football: Texas-TCU |
10/3
|
ABC
|
12:01-3:35pm
|
2,768
|
PBR: Cooper Tires
Take The Money Ride |
10/4
|
CBS
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
2,432
|
College football:
Arizona State-UCLA |
10/3
|
Fox
|
7:36-11:11pm
|
2,162
|
| "College Football Today" |
10/3
|
CBS
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
1,892
|
| MLB: (regional) |
10/3
|
Fox
|
1:00-5:15pm
|
1,570
|
Breeder's Cup Challenge Series:
Keeneland |
10/3
|
NBC
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
982
|
| EPL: Chelsea-Southampton |
10/3
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
948
|
| "Fox College Saturday" |
10/3
|
Fox
|
7:00-7:30pm
|
772
|
| "Inside College Football" |
10/3
|
CBS
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
716
|
Breeder's Cup Challenge Series:
Bourbon |
10/4
|
NBC
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
715
|
| Liga MX: Chivas-Monterrey |
9/29
|
UniMas
|
9:19-11:35pm
|
704
|
| "Fox NFL Kickoff" |
10/4
|
Fox
|
11:00am-12:00pm
|
677
|
| Lucas Oil Off Road Racing |
10/3
|
CBS
|
1:30-2:30pm
|
656
|
| WNBA Finals: Fever-Lynx: Game 1 |
10/4
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:30pm
|
571
|
| "Red Bull Series: Joyride" |
10/3
|
NBC
|
2:30-4:00pm
|
565
|
UCI Road Cycling
World Championships (taped) |
10/4
|
NBC
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
557
|
| "Dew Tour: Push" |
10/3
|
NBC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
512
|
| "World off X Games: WSL Surfing" |
10/4
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
484
|
| Liga MX: Cruz Azul-Atlas |
9/30
|
UniMas
|
9:25-11:35pm
|
452
|
| "Global Rallycross: Barbados" |
10/4
|
NBC
|
3:30-5:00pm
|
397
|
Beach Volleyball:
FIVB World Tour Finals |
10/4
|
NBC
|
2:30-3:30pm
|
386
|
"PGA Tour:
Road to the Presidents Cup" |
10/4
|
NBC
|
1:00-1:30pm
|
376
|
| "Dew Tour: Best of L.A." |
10/4
|
NBC
|
1:30-2:30pm
|
354
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
"Monday Night Football":
Chiefs-Packers |
9/28
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:59pm
|
13,514
|
| College football: Ole Miss-Florida |
10/3
|
ESPN
|
7:00-10:21pm
|
3,745
|
"Thursday Night Football":
Ravens-Steelers |
10/1
|
NFL Network
|
8:27-11:49pm
|
3,607
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
AAA 400 (Dover) |
10/4
|
NBCSN
|
2:54-6:16pm
|
3,239
|
| College football: Iowa-Wisconsin |
10/3
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:14pm
|
2,637
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
9/28
|
ESPN
|
6:00-8:15pm
|
2,445
|
| College football: Arkansas-Tennessee |
10/3
|
ESPN2
|
7:16-10:32pm
|
2,291
|
| College football: Oregon-Colorado |
10/3
|
ESPN
|
11:00pm-2:32am
|
2,231
|
| "College GameDay: |
10/3
|
ESPN
|
9:00am-12:00pm
|
2,144
|
| "NASCAR Sprint Cup Postrace" |
10/4
|
NBCSN
|
6:16-7:05pm
|
1,766
|
