The NHL All-Star Game had its lowest overnight rating since returning to broadcast TV three years ago. NBC on Saturday night drew a 1.3 rating for the game, which moved to a Saturday in primetime for the first time in many years. On a Sunday afternoon last year, up against part of the Pro Bowl, NBC drew a 1.5 overnight for the game (13% year-over-year drop). In ’17, the first time the game was on broadcast TV since ’04, NBC drew a 1.6 overnight. The last NHL All-Star Game ('16) drew a 1.2 overnight. While down from recent years, the All-Star Game was the NHL's best non-playoff primetime game since '14. NBC also had some broadcast TV sports competition on Saturday night for the game, with ABC drawing a 3.2 overnight for Celtics-Warriors and Fox drawing a 1.5 overnight for Premier Boxing Champions, which was a three-card telecast headlined by Keith Thurman’s win over Josesito Lopez. That PBC figure was tied for Fox’ best overnight for the boxing outfit in two years. Meanwhile, the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday night pushed NBC’s coverage of the popular ladies’ free skate at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships to Friday night. In that Friday primetime window, NBC drew a 2.3 overnight.
INSURANCE PLAN: Tiger Woods returned to PGA Tour competition over the weekend, making the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open, but not really contending for the win. CBS yesterday drew a 2.2 overnight for Justin Rose’s two-stroke win over Adam Scott. The leaderboard also saw Jason Day and Rory McIlroy in the top 5. Last year, CBS drew a 2.9 for Sunday’s telecast, but had to hand the finish off to Golf Channel for five playoff holes between Day, Ryan Palmer and Alex Noren. The playoff ended up finishing Monday morning. Two years ago, the final round drew a 2.1 overnight for Jon Rahm’s three-stroke win.
The chart below lists overnight ratings from weekend sports telecasts on broadcast TV.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RATING
|
| U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Ladies' Free Skate |
1/25
|
NBC
|
8:00-11:00pm
|
2.3
|
| Winter X Games |
1/26
|
ABC
|
1:00-6:00pm
|
0.8
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
1/26
|
ABC
|
8:00-8:30pm
|
1.4
|
| NBA: Celtics-Warriors |
1/26
|
ABC
|
8:30-11:00pm
|
3.2
|
| College basketball: Virginia-Notre Dame |
1/26
|
CBS
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
0.8
|
| PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open: Third Round |
1/26
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.6
|
Premier Boxing Champions:
Keith Thurman d. Josesito Lopez |
1/26
|
Fox
|
8:00-10:30pm
|
1.5
|
U.S. Figure Skating Championships:
Pairs' Free Skate; Men's Short |
1/26
|
NBC
|
1:30-4:30pm
|
1.1
|
| Horse Racing: Pegasus World Cup Invitational |
1/26
|
NBC
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
1.0
|
| NHL All-Star Game |
1/26
|
NBC
|
8:00-11:00pm
|
1.3
|
| "Sunday NFL Countdown" |
1/27
|
ABC
|
1:00-2:45pm
|
1.1
|
| Pro Bowl |
1/27
|
ABC/ESPN/
Disney XD
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
5.7
|
| College basketball: Michigan State-Purdue |
1/27
|
CBS
|
1:00-3:00pm
|
1.1
|
| PGA Tour: Farmers Insurance Open: Final Round |
1/27
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:45pm
|
2.2
|
| College basketball: Georgetown-St. John's |
1/27
|
Fox
|
12:00-2:15pm
|
0.6
|
| College basketball: Seton Hall-Villanova |
1/27
|
Fox
|
2:30-4:30pm
|
0.5
|
| Figure Skating: European Championships (taped) |
1/27
|
NBC
|
1:30-3:30pm
|
0.9
|
U.S. Figure Skating Championships:
Men's Free Skate |
1/27
|
NBC
|
3:30-6:00pm
|
1.5
|
