ABC and ESPN aired five NBA Playoff games over the weekend, with overnight ratings down 3%, while three blowouts for TNT yesterday saw the net’s average decline 15%. ABC’s two games over the weekend averaged a 4.0 overnight, up 5% from last year. Games from both years involved the Warriors and Cavaliers. The Warriors’ blowout win over the Rockets on Saturday afternoon drew a 3.9 overnight on ABC, up from a 3.2 for Warriors-Pelicans last year. Yesterday’s Pistons-Cavs opener drew a 4.1 overnight, down 9% from Cavs-Celtics last year, but still the best figure for any sports telecast over the weekend. ESPN’s three-game average on Saturday, which featured Pacers-Raptors, Celtics-Hawks and Mavericks-Thunder, was down 9% from last year. Meanwhile, TNT saw a 15% drop for its tripleheader yesterday, which saw blowouts of 20+ points in each game. Grizzlies-Spurs led TNT’s slate with a 2.9 overnight, while Hornets-Heat drew a 2.4 overnight and Trail Blazers-Clippers drew a 2.2 rating.
NOTES: Fox drew a 3.2 overnight for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway. The same race the last two seasons saw long rain delays, with those telecasts finishing on FS1. The race in ’13 aired around a month earlier in the calendar….ESPN on Saturday afternoon drew a 0.6 overnight for the Alabama football spring game. For comparison, that figure is higher than any game from the Stanley Cup Playoffs over the weekend on cable TV. Those NHL games were, of course, blacked out locally.
The chart below lists overnight ratings from weekend sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RATING
|
| "World of X Games: WSL Surfing" |
4/16
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.6
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
4/16
|
ABC
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
1.2
|
NBA Western Conference First Round:
Rockets-Warriors: Game 1 |
4/16
|
ABC
|
3:30-6:15pm
|
3.9
|
| PGA Tour: RBC Heritage: Third Round |
4/16
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.2
|
| "Bundesliga Match Day" |
4/16
|
Fox
|
12:00-12:30pm
|
0.4
|
| Bundesliga: Bayern Munich-Schalke |
4/16
|
Fox
|
12:30-2:15pm
|
0.3
|
| Monster Energy Supercross: St. Louis |
4/16
|
Fox
|
2:30-4:00pm
|
0.5
|
| UFC prelims |
4/16
|
Fox
|
6:00-8:00pm
|
1.0
|
| UFC on Fox 18: Rashad Evans-Glover Teixeira |
4/16
|
Fox
|
8:00-10:15pm
|
1.4
|
| EPL: Chelsea-Manchester City |
4/16
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.7
|
| "EPL Goal Zone" |
4/16
|
NBC
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
NHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals:
Rangers-Penguins: Game 2 |
4/16
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.2
|
| Premier Boxing Champions |
4/16
|
NBC
|
8:00-11:00pm
|
1.0
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
4/17
|
ABC
|
2:30-3:00pm
|
1.0
|
NBA Eastern Conference First Round:
Pistons-Cavaliers: Game 1 |
4/17
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:45pm
|
4.1
|
| PBR: Stanley Performance In Action Invitational |
4/17
|
CBS
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
0.7
|
| "PGA 2016: Make Cancer History" |
4/17
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.6
|
| PGA Tour: RBC Heritage: Final Round |
4/17
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.8
|
| "Fox NASCAR Sunday" |
4/17
|
Fox
|
12:30-1:15pm
|
1.9
|
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Food City 500 (Bristol) |
4/17
|
Fox
|
1:15-4:00pm
|
3.2
|
| AVP: New Orleans Open |
4/17
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:00pm
|
0.4
|
NHL Western Conference Quarterfinals:
Blues-Blackhawks: Game 3 |
4/17
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.6
|
