NBC on Saturday finished with 16.45 million viewers for the race segment of the Kentucky Derby from 6:24-7:11pm ET, marking the race’s best figure since ’10. The race, won by Always Dreaming, is up 6% from 15.5 million viewers for Nyquist’s win last year. NBC Sports Digital also saw record streaming levels for the race, delivering 9 million minutes of coverage and 281,000 unique users.
|
KENTUCKY DERBY AUDIENCE TREND ON NBC (RACE SEGMENT)
|
|
YEAR
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
WINNER
|
|
'17
|
16,445
|
Always Dreaming
|
|
'16
|
15,533
|
Nyquist
|
|
'15
|
16,000
|
American Pharoah
|
|
'14
|
15,300
|
California Chrome
|
|
'13
|
16,200
|
Orb
|
SECOND VERSE, SAME AS THE FIRST: The NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged 965,000 viewers for the second round, up 7% from '16. The league similarly saw a 7% rise during the first round. Streaming of games on NBC digital platforms has also set records through the first two rounds. Penguins-Capitals Game 7 on NBCSN on Wednesday night drew 2.48 million viewers. The teams also played a Game 7 in the '09 conference semifinals, with the same network drawing 1.14 million viewers. Including the Ducks-Oilers Game 7 on Wednesday, the games marked NBCSN's best NHL doubleheader on record. Penguins-Capitals also was the most-streamed game in NHL history, including Stanley Cup Finals.
ALL’S NOT WELLS: The PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship, which moved from Charlotte to Wilmington, N.C., for one year, last Sunday saw its lowest final round viewership on record (started in ’03). The Sunday telecast, which saw Brian Harman beat Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez by one stroke, drew 2.13 million viewers, down from 2.93 million last year for James Hahn’s win in a playoff over Roberto Castro.
SUPER DUPER: The Monster Energy Supercross series averaged 343,000 viewers for the ’17 season on FS1, marking its best figure since FS1 rebranded from Speed TV in ’13. The audience for this season was up 9% from 315,000 viewers in ’16 and up 8% from 317,000 in ’15. Fox also aired three races this season, with the top telecast drawing 813,000 viewers March 18.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| Kentucky Derby |
5/6
|
NBC
|
6:24-7:11pm
|
9.3
|
16,445
|
| "Kentucky Derby Prerace" |
5/6
|
NBC
|
5:11-6:24pm
|
5.8
|
9,600
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Warriors-Jazz: Game 3 |
5/6
|
ABC
|
8:29-11:12pm
|
3.6
|
5,911
|
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series:
Geico 500 (Talladega) |
5/7
|
Fox
|
2:21-6:30pm
|
3.5
|
5,897
|
| "Kentucky Derby Preview Show" |
5/6
|
NBC
|
4:00-5:11pm
|
3.5
|
5,500
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Cavaliers-Raptors: Game 4 |
5/7
|
ABC
|
3:29-6:15pm
|
3.2
|
5,038
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Spurs-Rockets: Game 4 |
5/7
|
TNT
|
9:08-11:29pm
|
3.0
|
4,936
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Spurs-Rockets: Game 3 |
5/5
|
ESPN
|
9:41pm-12:05am
|
3.0
|
4,907
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Jazz-Warriors: Game 1 |
5/2
|
TNT
|
11:01pm-1:13am
|
3.0
|
4,900
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Wizards-Celtics: Game 2 |
5/2
|
TNT
|
8:00-11:01pm
|
3.0
|
4,844
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Rockets-Spurs: Game 2 |
5/3
|
TNT
|
9:43pm-12:11am
|
3.0
|
4,790
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Jazz-Warriors: Game 2 |
5/4
|
ESPN
|
10:42pm-1:06am
|
2.9
|
4,784
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Celtics-Wizards: Game 4 |
5/7
|
TNT
|
6:30-9:08pm
|
2.8
|
4,567
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Rockets-Spurs: Game 1 |
5/1
|
TNT
|
9:38pm-12:16am
|
2.8
|
4,440
|
NHL Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Penguins-Capitals: Game 5 |
5/6
|
NBC
|
7:11-10:00pm
|
2.4
|
4,330
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Celtics-Wizards: Game 3 |
5/4
|
ESPN
|
7:59-10:42pm
|
2.6
|
4,064
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Cavaliers-Raptors: Game 3 |
5/5
|
ESPN
|
6:59-9:41pm
|
2.3
|
3,642
|
| MLB: Yankees-Cubs |
5/6
|
Fox
|
7:12-10:45pm
|
1.4
|
2,246
|
PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Championship:
Final Round |
5/7
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:15pm
|
1.4
|
2,126
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
Sparks Energy 300 (Talladega) |
5/6
|
Fox
|
1:09-4:00pm
|
1.3
|
1,997
|
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
qualifying (Talladega) |
5/6
|
Fox
|
4:15-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,487
|
NHL: Western Conference Semifinals:
Predators-Blues: Game 6 |
5/7
|
NBC
|
3:12-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,400
|
PGA Tour: Wells Fargo Championship:
Third Round |
5/6
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,313
|
| Liga MX: Leon-Cruz Azul |
5/6
|
Univision
|
8:00-10:00pm
|
0.5
|
905
|
| Liga MX: Club America-Pachuca |
5/6
|
Univision
|
10:00pm-12:01am
|
0.5
|
877
|
| EPL: Swansea-Everton |
5/6
|
NBC
|
12:30-2:30pm
|
0.5
|
709
|
| Rolex Equestrian Championship (taped) |
5/7
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
649
|
| Golf: Safeway Chef's Classic Kauai (taped) |
5/6
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.3
|
452
|
| "World of X Games: Alex Majerus Project" |
5/6
|
ABC
|
3:00-3:30pm
|
0.4
|
451
|
| "Gruden's QB Camp: Mitchell Trubisky" |
5/6
|
ABC
|
4:00-4:30pm
|
0.4
|
447
|
"World of X Games:
Skateboarders in Ethiopia" |
5/6
|
ABC
|
3:30-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
435
|
| "Gruden's QB Camp: Deshaun Watson" |
5/6
|
ABC
|
4:30-5:00pm
|
0.4
|
415
|
