The NBA has kept rolling at the start of the ’17-18 season, as game viewership on cable TV nets is up 15%. Each national TV outlets is seeing a gain, and RSNs are seeing double-digit percentage growth for NBA games. TNT leads the way, averaging 2.6 million viewers for its eight games through Nov. 2. That is the net’s best mark since the start to the ’13-14 season (2.8 million viewers). TNT also is up 11% from the start of last season. TNT was boosted by Celtics-Cavaliers on opening night, which was its best opener since Celtics-Knicks in ’11. Meanwhile, ESPN is averaging 1.8 million viewers to date, up 14% from the start of last season. NBA TV also is seeing its best start to the season since ’11, averaging 437,000 viewers. That is up 59% from the start of the ’16-17 season. Over on NBA RSNs, game ratings are up 14% to date.
GREEN/WHITE/CHECKER FINISH: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are seeing a slight uptick on NBC Sports heading into the final two races. For eight races across NBC and NBCSN, NASCAR has averaged 2.85 million viewers, up 1% from 2.82 million viewers last year. The figure is still below an average of 3.54 million viewers two years ago. A year-over-year increase for the Chase would be a welcome narrative for NASCAR, as season-long viewership is down around 8% to date.
DOWN SOUTH: LSU-Alabama finished with 6.73 million viewers on CBS last Saturday, marking the lowest viewership for the matchup since it moved to a primetime slot in ’11. It also is the lowest overall audience for the matchup since ’07, when a 5:00pm ET start drew 6.28 million viewers on CBS.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
World Series:
Astros-Dodgers: Game 7 |
11/1
|
Fox
|
8:14pm-12:12am
|
15.8
|
28,287
|
World Series:
Astros-Dodgers: Game 6 |
10/31
|
Fox
|
8:16-11:43pm
|
12.6
|
22,329
|
| NFL: Chiefs-Cowboys (96%) |
11/5
|
CBS
|
4:25-7:45pm
|
12.5
|
21,681
|
| "SNF": Raiders-Dolphins |
11/5
|
NBC
|
8:31-11:13pm
|
8.6
|
14,360
|
| NFL: (singleheader) |
11/5
|
Fox
|
1:00-4:05pm
|
8.4
|
14,212
|
| NFL: (regional) |
11/5
|
CBS
|
1:00-4:15pm
|
7.2
|
11,946
|
| "MNF": Broncos-Chiefs |
10/30
|
ESPN
|
8:15-11:40pm
|
6.3
|
10,487
|
| "Football Night in America" |
11/5
|
NBC
|
7:30-8:15pm
|
4.5
|
7,739
|
| College football: LSU-Alabama |
11/4
|
CBS
|
8:00-11:27pm
|
3.9
|
6,729
|
| "TNF": Bills-Jets |
11/2
|
NFL Net
|
8:28-11:49pm
|
3.6
|
5,850
|
| "Fox NFL Sunday" |
11/5
|
Fox
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
2.7
|
4,170
|
College football:
Ohio State-Iowa |
11/4
|
ESPN
|
3:34-7:15pm
|
2.3
|
4,112
|
College football:
South Carolina-Georgia |
11/4
|
CBS
|
3:30-6:45pm
|
2.1
|
3,482
|
| "The NFL Today" |
11/5
|
CBS
|
12:00-1:00pm
|
2.3
|
3,437
|
College football:
Penn State-Michigan State* |
11/4
|
Fox
|
12:06-1:15pm;
4:30-7:00pm
|
1.9
|
3,102
|
College football:
Virginia Tech-Miami |
11/4
|
ABC
|
8:07-11:34pm
|
1.8
|
3,011
|
College football:
Minnesota-Michigan |
11/4
|
Fox
|
8:31-11:40pm
|
1.7
|
2,850
|
College football:
Wisconsin-Indiana |
11/4
|
ABC
|
12:01-3:24pm
|
1.8
|
2,834
|
College football:
Clemson-N.C. State |
11/4
|
ABC
|
3:30-7:17pm
|
1.8
|
2,831
|
Monster Energy NASCAR
Cup Series: AAA Texas 500 |
11/5
|
NBCSN
|
2:26-6:07pm
|
1.6
|
2,701
|
College football:
Auburn-Texas A&M |
11/4
|
ESPN
|
12:00-3:23pm
|
1.6
|
2,631
|
College football:
Oklahoma-Oklahoma State |
11/4
|
FS1
|
4:02-8:33pm
|
1.4
|
2,486
|
| NBA: Celtics-Thunder |
11/3
|
ESPN
|
9:44pm-12:05am
|
n/a
|
2,332
|
| Breeders' Cup Classic |
11/4
|
NBC
|
8:00-9:03pm
|
1.3
|
2,014
|
| NBA: Warriors-Spurs |
11/2
|
TNT
|
8:14-10:35pm
|
n/a
|
1,998
|
| College football: Arizona-USC |
11/4
|
ESPN
|
10:48pm-1:35am
|
1.1
|
1,939
|
College football:
Wake Forest-Notre Dame |
11/4
|
NBC
|
3:30-7:15pm
|
1.2
|
1,903
|
| College football: Texas-TCU |
11/4
|
ESPN
|
7:15-10:48pm
|
1.1
|
1,897
|
| "Fox NFL Kickoff" |
11/5
|
Fox
|
11:00am-12:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,324
|
ISU Grand Prix of
Figure Skating (taped) |
11/5
|
NBC
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
0.9
|
1,228
|
| Liga MX: Pachuca-Queretaro |
11/4
|
Univision
|
9:00-11:03pm
|
0.5
|
947
|
| TCS N.Y. Marathon (taped) |
11/5
|
ABC
|
3:00-5:00pm
|
0.6
|
850
|
ISU Grand Prix of
Figure Skating (taped) |
11/5
|
NBC
|
3:30-4:30pm
|
0.5
|
761
|
| EPL: West Ham-Liverpool |
11/4
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:30pm
|
0.5
|
676
|
| "World of X Games: WSL Surfing" |
11/5
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
574
|
| DR1 Drone Racing (taped) |
11/4
|
CBS
|
1:30-2:30pm
|
0.4
|
559
|
NOTE: * = Penn State-Michigan State had a lengthy weather delay. Fox stuck with the game, which moved the majority of Stanford-Washington State to Fox Business.
