Golf Channel saw its most-viewed September and most-viewed Q3 in the net’s history. This past quarter also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of record audience delivery for the net. September marked the seventh of nine months this year to reach record viewership, and the ninth of 11 months to be most-viewed dating back to November ’11. September’s audience was helped by the Ryder Cup, which averaged 5.5 million viewers last Sunday, up 30% from the last time the event was held in the U.S. That figure is the best for a Ryder Cup Sunday since 6.9 million viewers watched in ’99. Golf Chanel also scored its most-viewed documentary with “War By The Shore” on Sept. 25, which averaged 241,000 viewers (Golf Channel).
IF IT AIN’T BROKE: ESPN averaged a 1.7 U.S. rating and 2.7 million viewers for the premiere of “Broke” on Tuesday, marking the net’s second-best audience ever for a documentary. The top audience remains “The Fab Five,” which premiered on March 13, 2011. “Broke” was the first of ESPN’s “30 for 30” Vol. II. The top audience among the original “30 for 30” films was 2.5 million viewers for “Pony Excess,” which debuted on Dec. 11, 2010 (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
|
MOST-VIEWED ESPN DOCUMENTARIES
|
| PREMIERE |
FILM |
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| Sunday, March 13, 2011 |
"The Fab 5" |
1.8
|
2,746
|
| Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2012 |
"Broke" |
1.7
|
2,700
|
| Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010 |
"Pony Excess" |
1.6
|
2,517
|
| Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009 |
"The U" |
1.6
|
2,368
|
| Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2010 |
"The Best That Never Was" |
1.5
|
2,229
|
| |
|
|
|
EASTERN FRONT: YES Network averaged 733,000 viewers in N.Y. for the Red Sox-Yankees regular-season finale on Wednesday night, tying the same matchup on Sept. 1, 2011 as the net’s most-viewed program over the last two years despite competition from the Presidential debate. The record dates back to the Yankees-Red Sox season opener in ’10, which averaged 1.1 million viewers (YES).
The chart below lists final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| "Sunday Night Football": Giants-Eagles |
9/30
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:42pm
|
14.1
|
22,765
|
| "NFL on Fox": Saints-Packers (87%) |
9/30
|
Fox
|
4:15-7:30pm
|
13.4
|
22,300
|
| "NFL on CBS": (single) |
9/30
|
CBS
|
1:00-4:05pm
|
8.9
|
n/a
|
| "NFL on Fox": (regional) |
9/30
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
8.7
|
13,800
|
| "Football Night in America" |
9/30
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
5.0
|
7,932
|
| Golf: Ryder Cup |
9/30
|
NBC
|
12:00-6:30pm
|
3.8
|
5,500
|
NCAA Football:
Ohio State-Michigan State |
9/29
|
ABC
|
3:30-7:00pm
|
3.3
|
4,975
|
| Golf: Ryder Cup |
9/29
|
NBC
|
9:00am-7:45pm
|
3.0
|
4,200
|
| NCAA Football: Tennessee-Georgia |
9/29
|
CBS
|
3:30-7:30pm
|
2.9
|
n/a
|
| NCAA Football: Wisconsin-Nebraska |
9/29
|
ABC
|
8:06-11:48pm
|
2.7
|
4,258
|
NCAA Football:
Texas-Oklahoma State |
9/29
|
Fox
|
7:51-11:33pm
|
2.5
|
3,815
|
| "The NFL Today" |
9/30
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
2.3
|
n/a
|
| MLB: (regional) |
9/29
|
Fox
|
4:00-7:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,500
|
| PBR 15/15 Bucking Battle |
9/30
|
CBS
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
n/a
|
| "College Football Today" |
9/29
|
CBS
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
0.7
|
n/a
|
"College Football Confidential:
Arkansas" |
9/29
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
n/a
|
| "MLB 2012: Down the Stretch" |
9/29
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
n/a
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
"Monday Night Football":
Packers-Seahawks |
9/24
|
ESPN
|
8:30-11:58pm
|
10.3
|
16,167
|
"Thursday Night Football":
Browns-Ravens |
9/27
|
NFLN
|
8:30-11:45pm
|
5.2
|
8,053
|
| "Thursday Night Football Pregame" |
9/27
|
NFLN
|
8:00-8:30pm
|
2.8
|
4,225
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup:
AAA 400 (Dover) |
9/30
|
ESPN
|
2:00-5:31pm
|
2.2
|
3,581
|
| NCAA Football: Ole Miss-Alabama |
9/29
|
ESPN
|
9:21pm-12:42am
|
2.1
|
3,496
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
9/24
|
ESPN
|
6:30-8:30pm
|
1.9
|
2,887
|
| NCAA Football: Stanford-Washington |
9/27
|
ESPN
|
8:55pm-12:21am
|
1.4
|
2,116
|
| "Sunday NFL Countdown" |
9/30
|
ESPN
|
10:00am-1:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,029
|
| Golf: Ryder Cup |
9/28
|
ESPN
|
8:00am-7:30pm
|
1.5
|
1,985
|
NCAA Football:
South Carolina-Kentucky |
9/29
|
ESPN2
|
7:09-10:20pm
|
1.2
|
1,874
|
