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Audience Analysis: UNC-Duke Scores For ESPN; NBA All-Star Friday Night Down

ESPN drew 4.12 million viewers for Duke's 92-90 OT win over North Carolina Wednesday night, marking the matchup’s best figure since March ’12 and the net's best college hoops game this season to date. The audience marked ESPN’s fourth-best figure for the matchup and the net’s 11th-best men’s college hoops game on record.

DUKE-UNC MEN'S BASKETBALL TV AUDIENCE TREND
DATE
NETWORK
VIEWERS (000)
2/18/15
ESPN
4,136
3/8/14
ESPN
3,498
2/20/14
ESPN
2,285
3/9/13
ESPN
2,787
2/13/13
ESPN
2,353
3/3/12
ESPN
4,247
2/8/12
ESPN
3,121
3/13/11
ESPN (ACC Tournament)
2,076
3/5/11
CBS
4,611
2/9/11
ESPN
2,367
     

FRONT-ROW SEAT:  Fox finished with 3.4 million viewers for last Sunday’s Daytona 500 qualifying. This year was the first time NASCAR used a group format to set the front row for the race. That audience is up 17% over last year’s 2.9 million viewers and ranks as the most-watched Daytona 500 qualifying since '09 (3.6 million viewers).

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT: ESPN drew 1.79 million viewers for the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game in the 7:00pm ET window last Friday, down 27% from last year’s game and down 21% from ’13. Immediately after the celebrity game, TNT aired the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, drawing 1.56 million viewers. That audience is down 12% from ’14 and down 18% from ’13.

NBA ALL-STAR FRIDAY NIGHT AUDIENCE TREND
YEAR
CELEBRITY GAME
VIEWERS (000)
RISING STARS
VIEWERS (000)
15
ESPN
1,787
TNT
1,559
14
ESPN
2,451
TNT
1,779
13
ESPN
2,263
TNT
1,897
12
ESPN
2,360
TNT
2,729
11
ESPN
2,358
TNT
2,440
         

HAPPY NEW YEAR: TSN averaged 230,000 viewers on a 24-hour basis in January, marking the net’s second-best figure in its 30-year history. The only month to have a higher audience was in February ’10 during the Vancouver Olympics. TSN benefitted from record audiences in January for the CFP semifinals, Australian Open, World Junior Hockey Championships and Pinty’s All-Star Curling Skins. The net also saw strong gains for NFL Playoff coverage and its “SportsCentre” show.

The charts below list final audience figures for recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NASCAR Sprint Unlimited
2/14
Fox
8:35-10:24pm
3.2
5,606
"NASCAR Pre-race"
2/14
Fox
8:00-8:35pm
2.4
4,039
PGA Tour: AT&T Pebble Beach
National Pro-Am: Final Round
2/15
CBS
3:00-6:45pm
2.3
3,600
NASCAR Sprint Cup: Daytona 500 qualifying
2/15
Fox
1:00-2:45pm
2.1
3,400
PGA Tour: AT&T Pebble Beach
National Pro-Am: Third Round
2/14
CBS
3:12-6:00pm
1.5
2,174
College basketball: Illinois-Wisconsin
2/15
CBS
1:00-3:00pm
1.2
1,894
PBR: Bass Pro Chute Out
2/15
CBS
12:00-1:00pm
1.0
1,428
College basketball: Baylor-Kansas
2/14
CBS
1:00-3:12pm
0.9
1,224
NHL: Penguins-Blackhawks
2/15
NBC
12:30-3:30pm
1.0
1,200
Liga MX: Chivas de Guadalajara-Veracruz
2/15
UniMas
5:49-8:00pm
0.6
1,137
FIS World Alpine Championships: Men's Slalom
2/15
NBC
4:30-6:00pm
0.8
918
Liga MX: Club America-Chiapas
2/14
Univision
5:55-8:00pm
0.5
849
USA Sevens Rugby
2/15
NBC
3:30-4:30pm
0.7
827
"Unforgettable Moments of Love on Ice"
2/15
ABC
4:00-6:00pm
0.6
790
USA Sevens Rugby
2/14
NBC
2:00-4:30pm
0.4
764
FIS World Alpine Championships: Women's Slalom
2/14
NBC
4:30-6:00pm
0.6
750
"NCAA Men of March: Bill Self"
2/14
CBS
12:30-1:00pm
0.5
618
College basketball: Oregon-UCLA
2/14
Fox
3:00-5:00pm
0.4
583
Liga MX: Leon-Leones Negros
2/14
Telemundo
9:00-11:06pm
0.3
508
"The Grantland Basketball Hour"
2/14
ABC
2:00-3:00pm
0.3
485
"World of X Games: Skate on Film"
2/14
ABC
3:30-4:00pm
0.4
455
"World of X Games: First In Flight"
2/14
ABC
3:00-3:30pm
0.3
449
College basketball: St. John's-Xavier
2/14
Fox
12:30-2:45pm
0.3
420
TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NBA All-Star Saturday
2/14
TNT
8:00-11:05pm
3.4
6,082
NBA All-Star Game*
2/15
TNT
8:42-11:22pm
3.6
5,956
"NBA All-Star Tip-Off"
2/15
TNT
7:00-8:42pm
1.9
3,134
College basketball: Kentucky-LSU
2/10
ESPN
7:00-9:05pm
1.5
2,406
College basketball: Duke-Syracuse
2/14
ESPN
6:15-8:19pm
1.3
2,202
NBA: Cavaliers-Bulls
2/12
TNT
8:00-10:33pm
1.4
2,097
College basketball: South Carolina-Kentucky
2/14
ESPN
2:03-4:08pm
1.2
1,816
NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
2/13
ESPN
7:00-9:05pm
1.2
1,787
College basketball: N.C. State-Louisville
2/14
ESPN
4:08-6:15pm
1.1
1,657
NBA: Heat-Cavaliers
2/11
ESPN
8:05-10:32pm
1.1
1,596
 

NOTE: * = NBA All-Star game also was simulcast on TBS, drawing an additional 1.219 million viewers.

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