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Audience Analysis: Preakness Up; NBA Draft Lottery Lowest Since '08

NBC finished with a total audience delivery of 7.9 million viewers for the race segment of the Preakness Stakes last Saturday, as Justify won to set up a potential Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes in two weeks. That figure is up from 7.5 million viewers last year for Cloud Computing’s win, but down sharply from 9.4 million viewers for Exaggerator’s win in ’16.

PING-PONG MATCH: The expanded NBA Draft Lottery last week was not an audience success for ESPN. The one-hour telecast, boosted from 30 minutes in previous years, drew 2.48 million viewers, marking the lottery’s lowest figure since ’08 (2.33 million viewers). This year also was down 23% from 3.23 million viewers last year.

STARS AT NIGHT: FS1 drew 2.47 million viewers for the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race last Saturday, which for the second year in a row is the lowest audience for the race since at least ’03 (records not available prior to that). The race drew 2.87 million viewers last year.

The chart below lists final viewership figures from select recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NBA Western Conference Finals:
Warriors-Rockets: Game 1
5/14
TNT
9:00-11:29pm
5.4
8,902
NBA Eastern Conference Finals:
Cavaliers-Celtics: Game 2
5/15
ESPN
8:30-11:07pm
5.1
8,417
Preakness Stakes (race segment)
5/19
NBC
6:25-7:09pm
4.8
7,895
NBA Western Conference Finals:
Rockets-Warriors: Game 3
5/20
TNT
8:00-10:24pm
4.6
7,797
NBA Western Conference Finals:
Warriors-Rockets: Game 2
5/16
TNT
9:00-11:28pm
4.6
7,563
NBA Eastern Conference Finals:
Celtics-Cavaliers: Game 3
5/19
ESPN
8:30-11:05pm
4.0
6,827
NHL Eastern Conference Final:
Capitals-Lightning: Game 5
5/19
NBC
7:09-10:00pm
1.7
2,907
NBA Draft Lottery
5/15
ESPN
7:30-8:30pm
1.6
2,477
Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race
5/19
FS1
7:59-10:09pm
1.5
2,474
PGA Tour: AT&T Byron Nelson: Final Round
5/20
CBS
3:00-6:00pm
1.5
2,273
Liga MX: Clausura Championship:
Santos Laguna-Toluca: Leg 2
5/20
Univision
7:30-10:05pm
1.0
2,143
NHL Western Conference Final:
Golden Knights-Jets: Game 5
5/20
NBC
3:07-6:00pm
1.3
2,100
NHL Eastern Conference Finals:
Capitals-Lightning: Game 4
5/17
NBCSN
8:02-10:54pm
n/a
2,051
PGA Tour: AT&T Byron Nelson: Third Round
5/19
CBS
3:00-6:00pm
1.2
1,795
Liga MX: Clausura Championship:
Santos Laguna-Toluca: Leg 1
5/17
Univision
8:30-11:14pm
0.9
1,599
NHL Western Conference Finals:
Golden Knights-Jets: Game 4
5/18
NBCSN
8:01-10:58pm
n/a
1,525
NHL Eastern Conference Finals:
Capitals-Lightning: Game 3
5/15
NBCSN
8:03-11:01pm
n/a
1,451
Indianapolis 500 qualifying: Day 2
5/20
ABC
4:00-6:00pm
0.9
1,328
Soccer: FA Cup Final:
Manchester United-Chelsea
5/19
Fox
1:00-3:00pm
0.7
1,075
Indianapolis 500 qualifying: Day 1
5/19
ABC
4:00-6:02pm
0.7
1,054
Reebok CrossFit Games: regionals (taped)
5/19
CBS
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
628
Track & Field: Adidas Boost Street Games
5/20
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
628
Lucas Oil Off Road Racing (taped)
5/20
CBS
2:00-3:00pm
0.4
566
"World of X Games: Mint 400"
5/19
ABC
3:00-4:00pm
0.4
555
MLS: Timbers-LAFC
5/19
Fox
3:00-5:00pm
0.3
465
"The Ultimate Fighter 27: Undefeated"
5/19
Fox
5:00-6:00pm
0.3
400
Download the
Viewership Figures

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