NBC last Saturday drew 2.81 million viewers for the primetime window of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which featured the ladies’ free skate. That marks the lowest Saturday primetime window for the event in at least a decade, and likely further back, when the event aired on ABC. Last year’s event drew 3.75 million viewers, while the ’15 Saturday primetime window drew 3.33 million viewers. A rise in cable news can be attributed to some of the decline; Fox News on Saturday averaged 2.98 million viewers in primetime for coverage of the first full day of the Trump administration, while CNN averaged 1.96 million. By comparison, those nets on the same night last year against figure skating averaged 1.21 million viewers and 915,000 viewers, respectively. While down from recent years, the primetime figure skating on NBC did rank ahead of any college basketball on broadcast or cable TV last week.
|
U.S. FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS: SATURDAY PRIIMETIME ON NBC
|
|
YEAR
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
'17
|
2,811
|
|
'16
|
3,747
|
|
'15
|
3,334
|
|
'14*
|
4,183
|
|
'13
|
3,321
|
|
'12
|
3,711
|
|
'11
|
3,918
|
|
'10*
|
5,387
|
|
'09
|
4,095
|
|
'08
|
5,184
|
NOTE: * = Winter Olympic year.
The chart below lists viewership figures for select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| AFC Championship: Patriots-Steelers |
1/22
|
CBS
|
6:45-9:51pm
|
24.4
|
47,951
|
| NFC Championship: Falcons-Packers |
1/22
|
Fox
|
3:06-6:31pm
|
25.0
|
46,281
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
1/22
|
Fox
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
7.1
|
11,622
|
| "The NFL Today" |
1/22
|
CBS
|
6:00-6:45pm
|
5.3
|
9,850
|
| "Fox NFL Kickoff" |
1/22
|
Fox
|
1:00-2:00pm
|
3.2
|
4,964
|
| NBA: Cavaliers-Warriors |
1/16
|
TNT
|
8:01-10:38pm
|
2.6
|
4,529
|
| NBA: Spurs-Cavaliers |
1/21
|
ABC
|
8:29-11:19pm
|
2.2
|
3,598
|
U.S. Figure Skating Championships:
Ladies' Free |
1/21
|
NBC
|
8:00-11:00pm
|
1.8
|
2,811
|
| NBA: Thunder-Warriors |
1/18
|
ESPN
|
10:34pm-1:03am
|
n/a
|
2,650
|
"NFL Championship Chase:
Conference Supremacy" |
1/22
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
1.6
|
2,484
|
| NBA: Warriors-Rockets |
1/20
|
ESPN
|
8:01-10:35pm
|
n/a
|
2,072
|
| College basketball: Arizona-UCLA |
1/21
|
CBS
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
1.2
|
1,895
|
| Liga MX: Tigres UANL-Club America |
1/21
|
Univision
|
7:55-10:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,720
|
| NBA: Thunder-Clippers |
1/16
|
TNT
|
10:38pm-1:01am
|
n/a
|
1,716
|
College basketball:
South Carolina-Kentucky |
1/21
|
ESPN
|
6:09-8:14pm
|
1.0
|
1,633
|
U.S. Figure Skating Championships:
Pairs' Free/Free Dance |
1/21
|
NBC
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,595
|
| Liga MX: Chivas-Tijuana |
1/21
|
Univision
|
10:00pm-12:06am
|
0.8
|
1,550
|
| "Sunday NFL Countdown" |
1/22
|
ESPN
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
n/a
|
1,524
|
| NBA: Wizards-Knicks |
1/19
|
TNT
|
8:00-10:22pm
|
n/a
|
1,423
|
U.S. Figure Skating Championships:
Men's Free |
1/22
|
NBC
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,415
|
| College basketball: Miami-Duke |
1/21
|
ESPN
|
8:14-10:20pm
|
0.9
|
1,374
|
| NBA: Pacers-Lakers |
1/20
|
ESPN
|
10:35pm-12:56am
|
n/a
|
1,359
|
| NBA: Bucks-Rockets |
1/18
|
ESPN
|
8:01-10:34pm
|
n/a
|
1,298
|
| College basketball: Texas-Kansas |
1/21
|
CBS
|
2:00-4:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,297
|
| NHL: Rangers-Red Wings |
1/22
|
NBC
|
12:30-3:00pm
|
0.8
|
1,223
|
| EPL: Manchester City-Tottenham |
1/21
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.8
|
1,160
|
| "30 for 30": "Catholics Vs. Convicts" |
1/21
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:00pm
|
0.6
|
951
|
| College basketball: Vanderbilt-Florida |
1/21
|
CBS
|
12:00-2:00pm
|
0.7
|
909
|
| "World of X Games: Aspen Preview" |
1/21
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
711
|
| College basketball: Georgetown-Xavier |
1/22
|
CBS
|
2:00-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
687
|
| College basketball: Providence-Villanova |
1/21
|
Fox
|
12:00-2:15pm
|
0.5
|
675
|
| College basketball: Marquette-Creighton |
1/21
|
Fox
|
2:15-4:30pm
|
0.3
|
505
|
