Little League World Series pool play has averaged a 0.7 U.S. rating and 1.063 million viewers for 16 games across ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 through Aug. 21, down 12.5% and 6.8%, respectively, from a 0.8 rating and 1.14 million viewers through the same point in last year’s tournament (14 telecasts). Last Saturday’s Warner Robins, Ga.-Rapid City, S.D. game on ABC remains the most-viewed telecast for the tournament to date with 1.567 million viewers.
LANDING A HAYMAKER: ESPN2 concluded its “Friday Night Fights” season last week, with the final telecast averaging 386,000 viewers. For the complete season, “FNF” averaged 543,000 viewers, up 9.3% from 497,000 viewers last year. "FNF" also saw demo gains among adults 18-34 (+19%) and 18-49 (+22%).
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: ESPN averaged a 3.8 U.S. rating and 5.853 million viewers for its coverage of Bears-Giants on Aug. 22, marking the net’s third-best NFL Preseason game in the past five years. Through its first three preseason telecasts, ESPN is averaging a 3.3 U.S. rating and 5.086 million viewers, up slightly from the same period last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). The Lions-Browns preseason game on Aug. 19 earned a 9.5 local rating in Detroit, while on the same night, Indians-Tigers drew a 7.3 rating in the market. During the time frame when the “teams were actually going head-to-head with game action” from 7:30-10:00pm ET, “the Lions held an edge of 8.3 to the Tigers’ 7.9” (MLIVE.com, 8/24).
NOTES: Galavision averaged 1.713 million viewers for the Brazil-Mexico FIFA U-20 World Cup semifinal on Aug. 18, marking the second most-viewed Spanish-language telecast in cable TV history (Galavision).
The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts on broadcast and cable TV. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | |
| NFL Preseason: Chargers-Cowboys | 8/21 | NBC | 8:08-11:04pm | 6.4 | 10,676 |
| NFL Preseason: Eagles-Steelers | 8/18 | Fox | 8:12-11:08pm | 5.3 | 8,587 |
| NFL Preseason: Falcons-Jaguars | 8/19 | Fox | 8:09-11:06pm | 2.6 | 4,155 |
| Visa Gymnastics Championships | 8/20 | NBC | 8:00-10:00pm | 1.8 | 2,849 |
| MLB: (regional) | 8/20 | Fox | 4:08-7:16pm | 1.5 | 2,372 |
PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship:
Final Round | 8/21 | CBS | 3:00-6:00pm | 1.6 | 2,344 |
LLWS: Warner Robins (Ga.)-
Rapid City (S.D.) | 8/20 | ABC | 3:00-5:30pm | 1.1 | 1,567 |
| Visa Gymnastics Championships | 8/21 | NBC | 4:30-6:00pm | 0.9 | 1,547 |
LLWS: Billings (Mont.)-
Lafayette (La.) | 8/21 | ABC | 2:00-4:30pm | 1.1 | 1,529 |
PGA Tour: Wyndham Championship:
Third Round | 8/20 | CBS | 3:00-6:00pm | 1.1 | 1,498 |
ATP Tour: Western & Southern
Open Final: Murray d. Djokovic | 8/21 | CBS | 12:30-3:00pm | 0.8 | 1,073 |
American Le Mans Series:
Road America | 8/21 | ABC | 4:30-6:00pm | 0.7 | 1,054 |
| Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing (taped) | 8/20 | CBS | 1:00-2:00pm | 0.6 | 950 |
Horse Racing:
The Alabama (Saratoga) | 8/20 | NBC | 5:00-6:00pm | 0.6 | 891 |
| BMX Supercross (taped) | 8/21 | NBC | 3:30-4:30pm | 0.3 | 515 |
| TELECAST | DATE | NET | TIME (ET) | RAT. | VIEWERS (000) |
NASCAR Sprint Cup:
Pure Michigan 400 | 8/21 | ESPN | 1:00-4:12pm | 3.7 | 5,028 |
| NFL Preseason: Texans-Jets | 8/15 | ESPN | 8:00-11:23pm | 3.7 | 4,966 |
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Heluva Good!
Sour Cream Dips at The Glen | 8/15 | ESPN | 10:00am-1:50pm | 1.3 | 1,896 |
| "NASCAR Countdown" | 8/21 | ESPN | 12:00-1:00pm | 1.2 | 1,894 |
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
NAPA Auto Parts 200 | 8/20 | ESPN | 2:29-6:00pm | 1.3 | 1,872 |
FIFA U-20 World Cup:
Brazil-Mexico | 8/17 | Galavision | 8:47-11:00pm | 0.8 | 1,713 |
| MLB: Cardinals-Cubs | 8/21 | ESPN | 7:59-10:54pm | 1.1 | 1,566 |
| "Monday Night Countdown" | 8/15 | ESPN | 7:00-8:00pm | 1.0 | 1,480 |
| LLWS: Japan-Mexico | 8/21 | ESPN2 | 8:00-10:17pm | 0.9 | 1,388 |
LLWS: Clinton (Colo.)-
Cumberland (R.I.) | 8/20 | ESPN | 8:14-9:59pm | 0.9 | 1,383 |
