Audience Analysis: F1 now up 35%; "NBA Today" strong in July

ESPN drew 1.25 million viewers for the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary on Sunday, marking the event’s best audience yet on U.S. airwaves (Hungary has been on the F1 schedule annually since 1986). Season-to-date, F1 races across ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 are averaging 1.3 million viewers, up 35% from the same point last year (949,000) and easily on pace for the best F1 season ever in the U.S.

TRIPLE THREAT: Paul Levesque’s first week with his hands on the controls for WWE creative was a good one for “Monday Night Raw.” This week’s show on USA Network averaged 2.23 million viewers from 8:00-11:00pm ET, marking the best for the show since March 16, 2020 (2.35 million for a telecast taking place just as the sports world was shutting down amid COVID). The audience also was up 17% from last week’s “Raw.”

NOTES: NBC drew 3.37 million viewers for the NASCAR Cup Series race from the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, up 18% from the same race last year and the most-watched Cup race this season since the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte in May....ESPN averaged 342,000 viewers for “NBA Today” last month, which is the weekday NBA studio show’s best July figure since 2017 (when it was “The Jump”). Last month also was the second-best month for “NBA Today” since the show’s rebrand in October 2021, behind only December 2021 (343,000)....CBS averaged 2.48 million viewers for the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday, down 4% from last year as Tony Finau won his second straight PGA Tour event.

The chart below lists viewership figures for select recent sports telecasts.

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