FS1 averaged 157,000 viewers in primetime for the week of Aug. 19-25 -- its first full week on the air -- ahead of other cable sports networks like Golf Channel (132,000), NBCSN (96,000) and ESPNU (63,000) during the same period. The net's average was below those for MLB Network (196,000) and NFL Network (384,000). FS1’s most-viewed telecast last week was the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200 from Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 21 with 540,000 viewers. That audience was on par with an ESPN2 Little League World Series telecast from Aug. 19. FS1’s “Crowd Goes Wild” peaked at 179,000 viewers during the net’s first week (Aug. 23). The 5:00pm ET show premiered to 74,000 viewers on Aug. 19 and had a weeklong low of 29,000 viewers on Aug. 22. Meanwhile, the net’s “Fox Sports Live” 11:00pm show had its best audience of the week on Aug. 19 with 82,000 viewers (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
HE’S BACK: The Aug. 26 premiere of “Olbermann” on ESPN2 drew 319,000 viewers, “a slight boost from what the time period averaged in August of last year when it drew roughly 239,000 viewers.” Among men 18-49 and 25-54, the show “was steady” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 8/28).
KICK START: NBCSN averaged 536,000 viewers for the EPL Manchester United-Chelsea match on Aug. 26, marking the second-best early-season (pre-December) EPL audience in the U.S. all-time, behind only ESPN2’s ManU-Tottenham Hotspur match on Aug. 22, 2011. Since the kickoff of the EPL season (10-day period), NBCSN's ratings have doubled, P18-49 rating have tripled and P25-54 ratings have quadrupled (Karp).
The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from weekend sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| NFL Preseason: Vikings-49ers |
8/25
|
NBC
|
8:08-11:02pm
|
5.2
|
8,176
|
| NFL Preseason: Seahawks-Packers |
8/23
|
CBS
|
8:00-11:15pm
|
4.8
|
7,684
|
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Bristol |
8/24
|
ABC
|
7:30-11:15pm
|
3.9
|
6,322
|
| NFL Preseason: Saints-Texans |
8/25
|
Fox
|
4:00-7:00pm
|
3.7
|
n/a
|
| PGA Tour: The Barclays: Final Round |
8/25
|
CBS
|
2:00-6:00pm
|
3.0
|
n/a
|
| NFL Preseason: Rams-Broncos |
8/24
|
CBS
|
8:00-11:21pm
|
2.9
|
4,416
|
| Little League World Series Championship: Japan-Chula Vista (CA) |
8/25
|
ABC
|
3:00-6:15pm
|
2.5
|
3,947
|
| Little League World Series: U.S. Championship: Chula Vista (CA)-Westport (CT) |
8/24
|
ABC
|
3:45-6:30pm
|
2.1
|
3,147
|
| "NASCAR Countdown" |
8/24
|
ABC
|
7:00-7:30pm
|
2.1
|
3,064
|
| PGA Tour: The Barclays: Third Round |
8/24
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.8
|
n/a
|
| MLB: (regional) |
8/24
|
Fox
|
4:00-7:30pm
|
1.5
|
n/a
|
| "Madden NFL 14 Pigskin Pro-Am" |
8/25
|
NBC
|
7:00-8:00pm
|
1.5
|
2,300
|
| Little League World Series: Int'l Championship: Japan-Mexico |
8/24
|
ABC
|
12:30-3:45pm
|
1.4
|
2,094
|
| Horse Racing: Saratoga: Travers and King's Bishop |
8/24
|
NBC
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
861
|
| EPL: Aston Villa-Arsenal |
8/24
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.6
|
789
|
| U.S. Open: Arthur Ashe Kids' Day |
8/25
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:30pm
|
0.5
|
n/a
|
| Ironman World Championships (repeat) |
8/25
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
630
|
| ATP Winston-Salem Open Final: Jurgen Meltzer d. Gael Monfils |
8/24
|
CBS
|
12:30-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
n/a
|
| "U.S. Open preview" |
8/25
|
CBS
|
1:30-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
n/a
|
| World of Adventure Sports |
8/25
|
NBC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
543
|
| Cycling: USA Pro Challenge: Stage 6 |
8/24
|
NBC
|
2:30-4:30pm
|
0.3
|
467
|
| Cycling: USA Pro Challenge: Stage 7 |
8/25
|
NBC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.4
|
457
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
| NFL Preseason: Steelers-Redskins |
8/19
|
ESPN
|
7:59-11:07pm
|
3.8
|
5,575
|
| NFL Preseason: Panthers-Ravens |
8/22
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:05pm
|
2.7
|
3,954
|
| Little League World Series: Chula Vista (CA)-Westport (CT) |
8/21
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:00pm
|
1.3
|
1,957
|
| MLB: Red Sox-Dodgers |
8/25
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:13pm
|
1.3
|
1,899
|
| NASCAR Nationwide Series: Bristol |
8/23
|
ESPN
|
7:30-9:30pm
|
1.1
|
1,687
|
| Little League World Series: 3rd Place: Mexico-Westport (CT) |
8/25
|
ESPN
|
11:00am-1:50pm
|
1.0
|
1,454
|
| Little League World Series: Sammamish (WA)-Nashville (TN) |
8/20
|
ESPN2
|
8:00-10:05pm
|
0.9
|
1,397
|
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
8/19
|
ESPN
|
7:00-7:59pm
|
1.0
|
1,394
|
| NFL Preseason: Bills-Redskins |
8/24
|
NFLN
|
4:30-7:28pm
|
0.8
|
1,198
|
| Little League World Series: Sammamish (WA)-Urbandale (IA) |
8/19
|
ESPN2
|
8:00-10:16pm
|
0.7
|
1,106
|
