In N.Y., Steel & Sandomir cite analysts and industry execs as saying that “among the top reasons” that News Corp. Chair & CEO Ruper Murdoch covets Time Warner “is the opportunity to acquire more sports rights and bolster” FS1. Horizon Media Dir of Research Brad Adgate cited Nielsen data showing that over the last 11 months, FS1 has averaged 88,000 viewers among males 18-49 during primetime and 122,000 viewers among all adults 18-49 in primetime. That compares to ESPN’s 762,000 viewers among males 18-49 and 1.07 million viewers among adults 18-49 during the same period (N.Y. TIMES, 7/18).
CORN POPS: NBCSN averaged 444,000 viewers for the Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn Indy 300 on Saturday night, which had its start time moved up 30 minutes to avoid storms. However, showers still forced the series into its first rain-induced red flag since ’11. Last year’s Iowa race aired on ABC on Sunday afternoon in late June, averaging 928,000 viewers. The race aired on NBCSN in ’12, averaging 254,000 viewers in late June on a Saturday night (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
NOTES: TNT earned a 2.7 U.S. rating and 4.285 million viewers for its final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series telecast last Sunday afternoon from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NBC and Fox Sports become the official NSCS TV partners beginning in ’15. The audience for the Camping World RV Sales 301 was down 16% and 13%, respectively, from a 3.2 rating and 4.907 million viewers for the race last year. This year’s race went head-to-head with the Germany-Argentina FIFA World Cup final on ABC....ESPN2 drew 426,000 viewers for Timbers-Sounders on Sunday night, a match that received heavy promotion during ABC’s Germany-Argentina telecast earlier in the day (Karp).
The charts below list final ratings from recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| FIFA World Cup final: Germany-Argentina |
7/13
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:44pm
|
9.1
|
17,324
|
| MLB: (regional) |
7/12
|
Fox
|
7:15-11:00pm
|
1.4
|
2,079
|
| PGA Tour: John Deere Classic: Final Round |
7/13
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,533
|
| PGA Tour: John Deere Classic: Third Round |
7/12
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,261
|
| Golf: U.S. Senior Open: Final Round |
7/13
|
NBC
|
2:30-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
1,000
|
| Tour de France: Stage 8 |
7/12
|
NBC
|
8:00-11:30am
|
0.7
|
959
|
European Tour: Aberdeen Asset Management
Scottish Open: Final Round |
7/13
|
NBC
|
12:00-2:30pm
|
0.7
|
954
|
| "World of X Games: Billabong XXL Awards" |
7/12
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.5
|
818
|
| "ESPN Sports Saturday" |
7/12
|
ABC
|
5:00-6:00pm
|
0.5
|
721
|
| Golf: U.S. Senior Open: Third Round |
7/12
|
NBC
|
2:15-6:45pm
|
0.5
|
707
|
European Tour: Aberdeen Asset Management
Scottish Open: Third Round |
7/12
|
NBC
|
12:00-2:15pm
|
0.5
|
695
|
| Ricoh Women's British Open: Third Round highlights |
7/12
|
ABC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
0.3
|
537
|
| "PGA Tour Special: Changing The Face of The Game" |
7/13
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
457
|
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| FIFA World Cup: Semifinal: Argentina-Netherlands |
7/9
|
ESPN
|
4:00-6:51pm
|
4.3
|
6,823
|
| FIFA World Cup: Semifinal: Germany-Brazil |
7/8
|
ESPN
|
4:00-6:06pm
|
4.2
|
6,643
|
| FIFA World Cup: Third-Place Game: Netherlands-Brazil |
7/12
|
ESPN
|
4:00-6:03pm
|
2.8
|
4,747
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
Camping World RV Sales 301 (New Hampshire) |
7/13
|
TNT
|
1:00-4:36pm
|
2.7
|
4,285
|
| MLB: Yankees-Orioles |
7/13
|
ESPN
|
8:00-9:49pm
|
1.4
|
2,013
|
| NASCAR Nationwide Series: Sta-Green 200 (New Hampshire) |
7/12
|
ESPN2
|
3:30-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,347
|
| MLB: Pirates-Cardinals |
7/9
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:42pm
|
0.7
|
1,023
|
| MLB: Yankees-Indians |
7/7
|
ESPN
|
7:00-10:12pm
|
0.6
|
742
|
| General Tire World Cup of Softball: Canada-U.S. |
7/13
|
ESPN
|
1:00-3:25pm
|
0.5
|
670
|
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series: American Ethanol 200 (Iowa) |
7/11
|
FS1
|
8:30-10:20pm
|
0.4
|
663
|
