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
|
