MLS viewership is a mixed bag early in the season. ESPN and ESPN2 through four matches are averaging 285,000 viewers, down 2% from 292,000 viewers last year. The ’15 season got off to a strong start with a matchup featuring two expansion clubs – Orlando City and NYC FC. Meanwhile, FS1 is averaging 223,000 viewers for its six games to date, up 2% to date. For Spanish-language games on ESPN Deportes, viewership among Hispanics is up 51% (53,000 vs. 35,000). Fox Deportes, however, has seen a decline for its game coverage. UniMas has averaged 304,000 viewers to date, up 6%.
GREEN ACRES: ESPN averaged 3.06 million viewers for live coverage of the second round of The Masters last Friday from 3:00-7:30pm ET, up from 2.95 million viewers last year. Thursday’s coverage averaged 2.4 million viewers, down from 3.22 million viewers last year, when Tiger Woods was in the field. Meanwhile, Golf Channel on Thursday for its “Live From The Masters” studio show from 10:00am-3:00pm averaged 564,000 viewers. ESPN in the same window for “SportsCenter” with live look-ins of early play from Augusta averaged 304,000 viewers. The large gap was the same on Friday, with Golf Channel averaging 550,000 viewers in the window, and ESPN’s episodes of “SportsCenter” averaging 396,000 viewers.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
NCAA Basketball Championship:
Villanova-North Carolina |
4/4
|
TBS
|
9:20-11:36pm
|
8.1
|
13,853
|
| The Masters: Final Round |
4/10
|
CBS
|
2:00-6:15pm
|
7.7
|
12,398
|
| The Masters: Third Round |
4/9
|
CBS
|
3:00-7:00pm
|
5.1
|
7,954
|
| "NCAA Championship Postgame" |
4/4
|
TBS
|
11:36pm-12:27am
|
3.0
|
4,967
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Duck Commander 500 (Texas)* |
4/9
|
Fox
|
9:36pm-1:15am
|
2.7
|
4,339
|
| NBA: Spurs-Warriors |
4/7
|
TNT
|
10:43pm-1:08am
|
2.2
|
3,437
|
NCAA Basketball Championship:
North Carolina Team Stream |
4/4
|
TNT
|
9:20-11:41pm
|
1.9
|
3,127
|
| "NCAA Championship Pregame" |
4/4
|
TBS
|
8:02-9:10pm
|
2.0
|
3,072
|
| The Masters: Second Round |
4/8
|
ESPN
|
3:00-7:30pm
|
2.2
|
3,060
|
| "NASCAR Pre-Race" |
4/9
|
Fox
|
7:00-8:15pm
|
1.8
|
3,036
|
NCAA Women's Basketball
Championship: UConn-Syracuse |
4/5
|
ESPN
|
8:41-10:42pm
|
1.9
|
2,972
|
| NBA: Warriors-Spurs |
4/10
|
NBA TV
|
7:00-9:46pm
|
1.5
|
2,561
|
| The Masters: First Round |
4/7
|
ESPN
|
3:00-7:30pm
|
1.7
|
2,398
|
| NBA: Warriors-Grizzlies |
4/9
|
ESPN
|
7:59-10:35pm
|
n/a
|
2,238
|
| NBA: Cavaliers-Bulls |
4/9
|
ABC
|
8:33-11:05pm
|
1.3
|
1,950
|
"Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta:
Jack Nicklaus" |
4/10
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,559
|
ISU World Figure Skating
Championships (taped) |
4/10
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,526
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
4/9
|
ABC
|
8:00-8:33pm
|
1.0
|
1,438
|
| NHL: Penguins-Flyers |
4/9
|
NBC
|
3:30-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,379
|
Gymnastics: Pacific Rim
Championships (taped) |
4/10
|
NBC
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,361
|
| "The Masters: Building A Champion" |
4/9
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,348
|
| Liga MX: Club America-Tijuana |
4/9
|
Univision
|
5:55-8:00pm
|
0.7
|
1,148
|
| "NHL Live" |
4/9
|
NBC
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
0.6
|
836
|
| EPL: Manchester City-West Brom |
4/9
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.6
|
805
|
| "Secrets of Amen Corner" |
4/9
|
CBS
|
1:30-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
623
|
| "EPL Goal Zone" |
4/9
|
NBC
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
532
|
| "Road to the Octagon" |
4/9
|
Fox
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
0.4
|
508
|
| "Gruden's QB Camp" (Carson Wentz) |
4/9
|
ABC
|
4:30-5:00pm
|
0.3
|
458
|
| "Gruden's QB Camp" (Jared Goff) |
4/9
|
ABC
|
4:00-4:30pm
|
0.3
|
448
|
| "World of X Games: Best of Austin" |
4/9
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.3
|
440
|
| Liga MX: Santos Laguna-Veracruz |
4/8
|
Azteca
|
10:19pm-12:36am
|
0.2
|
364
|
| Bundesliga: Wolfsburg-Mainz |
4/9
|
Fox
|
12:00-2:00pm
|
0.3
|
359
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
NOTES: * = Start was delayed by rain for 68 minutes. Rain delay from 8:18-9:25pm ET drew 3.335 million viewers.
