Audience Analysis: Pro Football HOF Lower; Manziel Boosts ESPN2

NFL Net drew 466,000 viewers for its coverage of the enshrinement, which included Ray Lewispro football hof

The Pro Football HOF enshrinement ceremony Saturday night was down slightly for combined coverage across ESPN and NFL Network (1.17 million this year vs. 1.18 million in '17). ESPN averaged 702,000 viewers, up slightly from 697,000 last year. NFL Net drew 466,000 viewers for its coverage of the event, down 4% from 486,000. Meanwhile, NBC finished with 6.78 million viewers for the Bears-Ravens HOF Game last Thursday night, marking the game’s lowest figure on broadcast TV since 6.3 million viewers on ABC in ’98, when Buccaneers-Steelers aired on a Sunday night. The HOF Game aired on NFL Network in ’12 and ’07. This year was the second time the game has been on a Thursday night. Last year’s Cowboys-Cardinals matchup drew 8.25 million viewers on NBC.

RUBBER CITY MATCH: CBS finished with 3.45 million viewers for the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this past Sunday, up 30% from last year. Justin Thomas won the event by four this year after Hideki Matsuyama won by five in ’17. Tiger Woods also finished t-31 this year after not playing last year. Golf Channel also saw a 74% viewership bump for early final round coverage on Sunday. CBS saw a 42% increase for Saturday coverage, while Golf Channel leading into that telecast was up 86%. Meanwhile, Golf Channel for Round 2 coverage on Friday averaged 1.12 million viewers, up 99% from ’17 as Woods was t-5 headed into the weekend. Round 1 coverage on Thursday delivered 652,000 viewers to Golf Channel, up 29%.

JOHNNY COME LATELY: Johnny Manziel’s starting debut with the Montreal Alouettes this past Friday averaged 406,000 viewers on ESPN2, marking a record audience for a CFL game on any ESPN network. The previous record was 347,000 viewers for a Saskatchewan Roughriders-Edmonton Eskimos game on June 29, 2013. The 406,000 viewers also outdrew ESPN’s coverage of The Basketball Tournament finale in the same window (263,000), as well as Big3 hoops on FS1 (159,000). MLB Network had non-exclusive coverage of Yankees-Red Sox on Friday night, drawing 468,000 viewers.

STARS AT NIGHT: The MLS All-Star Game averaged 452,000 viewers on ESPN last Wednesday night, up from 420,000 last year. The All Stars played Serie A club Juventus this year after playing Real Madrid in ’17. Meanwhile, Spanish-language nets UniMas and Univision Deportes combined for 769,000 viewers for the All-Star Game, down sharply from 1.48 million viewers last year on Univision.

WHAT A WEEK: MLB Network from July 28-Aug. 3 had its most-viewed seven-day stretch during the regular season in three years and third-highest week-long period on record. Last Wednesday was MLB Net’s best regular-season date since ’16, highlighted by Brewers-Dodgers in the late window. That game starting at 11:00pm ET averaged 413,000 viewers to deliver the net’s most-watched late-night game on record. Meanwhile, the Baseball HOF induction ceremony on July 29 averaged 340,000 viewers, up 31% from last year. The trade deadline on July 31 also delivered higher audiences for MLB Net. “MLB Central” from 10:00am-1:00pm averaged 120,000 viewers, up 18%, while “MLB Tonight: Trade Deadline Edition” from 1:00-4:00pm averaged 228,000 viewers, up 12%. The strong numbers at the end of the month also led MLB Net to its most-viewed July on record (total-day and primetime).

NOTES: ESPN averaged 2.75 million viewers for Yankees-Red Sox on Sunday night -- the last of its two “SNB” telecasts featuring the teams this season. That figure is the best for an ESPN MLB regular-season game since Cubs-Cardinals opened the ’17 season to 3.62 million viewers. It is also the best Yankees-Red Sox audience on “SNB” since April 13, 2014, when the matchup drew 2.77 million viewers....Fox averaged 343,000 for four 30-minute episodes of “All The Way Up” over the last two weekends. The series followed Browns QB Baker Mayfield.

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

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