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Audience Analysis: Heisman Ceremony Hits New Low; Warriors Climbing On CSN Bay Area

The Heisman Trophy ceremony on Saturday night drew 2.64 million viewers for ESPN, setting a new low for the event. There was little drama, as Louisville QB Lamar Jackson predictably won. This year was down 14% from 3.06 million viewers last year, when Alabama RB Derrick Henry won. Oregon QB Marcus Mariota’s win in ’14 drew 3.15 million viewers. The high mark for the Heisman ceremony remains ’09, when a close race saw Alabama RB Mark Ingram win (5.99 million viewers). ESPN following the Heisman debuted “Catholics Vs. Convicts,” its latest “30 for 30” documentary. The two-hour film averaged 2.11 million viewers, which is the 11th-best audience for a “30 for 30” film since the project began. ESPN last year debuted “Four Falls of Buffalo” following the Heisman, drawing 1.49 million viewers. Meanwhile, CBS on Saturday drew 7.694 million viewers for Army-Navy, marking the game's best audience in 24 years.

SLIM REAPING THE BENEFITS: CSN Bay Area is averaging an 8.31 local rating in the S.F.-San Jose-Oakland market for 24 Warriors games to date, up 8% from the same period last year, when the team was still undefeated (7.73 rating). The club, which added F Kevin Durant in the offseason, is leading all NBA RSNs this season to date. For the same number of games streamed on CSNBayArea.com and via the NBC Sports app this season, unique streams are up 16%.

SOUNDING OFF: The MLS Cup on Saturday returned to broadcast TV for the first time since ’08, and the move from ESPN to Fox paid off for the league. Fox drew 1.41 million viewers for the Sounders’ win in penalty kicks over Toronto FC, marking the best audience for an MLS Cup since ’01, when ABC drew 1.5 million viewers for Earthquakes-Galaxy. The Toronto market also was not included in the U.S. audience figures. ESPN last year on a Sunday afternoon up against NFL action drew 668,000 viewers for Timbers-Crew, which was the second-lowest MLS Cup audience on record. Fox’ coverage on Saturday peaked at 2.16 million viewers from 10:45-11:00pm ET. Meanwhile, UniMas drew another 601,000 viewers for its telecast of the game. In Canada, TSN and French-language net RDS combined to draw 1.5 million viewers for the game, marking the best MLS audience on record in the country. This year was the first any Canadian MLS club made the final.

The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
"SNF": Cowboys-Giants
12/11
NBC
8:31-11:35pm
14.9
26,499
NFL nat'l window:
Seahawks-Packers (67%)
12/11
Fox
4:34-8:05pm
14.4
25,261
NFL: (singleheader)
12/11
CBS
1:03-4:30pm
11.2
19,101
"TNF": Raiders-Chiefs
12/8
NBC/
NFL Net
8:26-11:41pm
10.5
17,391
NFL: (regional)
12/11
Fox
1:00-4:34pm
7.5
12,324
"Football Night in America"
12/11
NBC
7:30-8:22pm
5.7
9,715
"MNF": Colts-Jets
12/5
ESPN
8:15-11:32pm
5.0
8,093
College football: Army-Navy
12/10
CBS
3:00-6:30pm
5.0
7,940
"Fox NFL Sunday"
12/11
Fox
12:00-1:00pm
3.1
4,830
"The NFL Today"
12/11
CBS
12:00-1:00pm
2.6
4,107
Heisman Trophy ceremony
12/10
ESPN
8:00-9:10pm
n/a
2,638
NBA: Warriors-Clippers
12/7
ESPN
10:35pm-1:13am
n/a
2,367
Deer Valley Celebrity Skifest (taped)
12/11
CBS
5:00-6:00pm
1.4
2,216
"30 for 30": "Catholics Vs. Convicts"
12/10
ESPN
9:10-11:10pm
n/a
2,109
College football: FCS quarterfinals:
North Dakota State-South Dakota State
12/10
ESPN
12:00-3:13pm
1.3
1,984
NBA: Cavaliers-Knicks
12/7
ESPN
8:00-10:35pm
n/a
1,828
NBA: Rockets-Thunder
12/9
ESPN
8:04-10:41pm
n/a
1,820
"Thursday Night Football Postgame"
12/8
NFL Net
11:41pm-12:15am
n/a
1,618
NBA: Suns-Lakers
12/9
ESPN
10:41pm-1:08am
n/a
1,584
"Monday Night Countdown"
12/5
ESPN
6:00-8:15pm
n/a
1,582
College basketball:
Notre Dame-Villanova
12/10
CBS
12:00-2:15pm
1.1
1,565
"Fox NFL Kickoff"
12/11
Fox
11:00am-12:00pm
1.0
1,475
MLS Cup: Sounders FC-Toronto FC
12/10
Fox
7:56-11:10pm
0.8
1,411
Golf: PNC Father/Son Challenge
12/11
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
0.7
1,010
EPL: Leicester City-Manchester City
12/10
NBC
12:30-2:30pm
0.7
975
"Musselman's Apple Sauce
Family Skating Tribute"
12/11
ABC
3:00-5:00pm
0.6
871
Golf: PNC Father/Son Challenge
12/10
NBC
4:00-6:00pm
0.6
861
Golf: Franklin Templeton Shootout:
Final Round
12/10
Fox
1:00-5:00pm
0.6
846
"College Football's Glory Road"
12/10
ABC
4:00-5:00pm
0.5
745
"World of X Games:
Real Snow Backcountry"
12/10
ABC
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
637
MLS Cup: Sounders FC-Toronto FC
12/10
UniMas
7:59-11:13pm
0.3
601
"Championship Drive:
CFP Playoff Preview"
12/10
ABC
3:00-4:00pm
0.4
584
College basketball: Utah-Xavier
12/10
Fox
5:30-7:30pm
0.4
552

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