Sports Media Watch

Stay updated with the latest sports TV ratings and trends in the industry.

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Florida-Houston national title nailbiter tops 18 million mark

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The college basketball season ended on a strong note on the court — and in the ratings — as a compelling national championship delivered for CBS. Monday’s Florida-Houston NCAA men’s basketball national championship averaged 18.1 million viewers on CBS, marking the largest men’s college basketball audience since the 2019 national title game between Virginia and Texas Tech (19.4M). The previous high was 17.7 million for the 2022 Duke-North Carolina national semifinal.
UConn rout of South Carolina scores big audience despite big decline

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

If less than half the audience of last year’s all-time record high, Sunday’s lopsided NCAA women’s basketball national championship delivered a sizable audience. UConn’s blowout win over South Carolina in the NCAA women’s basketball national championship averaged 8.5 million viewers across ABC and ESPN, per Nielsen fast-nationals, trailing only the past two years as the most-watched women’s college basketball game of the Nielsen people meter era (dates back to 1988).
Monday musings: One Great contrast between NHL and NBA on TV

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Sports Media Watch presents thoughts on recent events on the industry, leading with a noticeable difference between NHL and NBA studio coverage. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said recently that he is sometimes jealous of the coverage other leagues receive from their broadcast partners. One wonders if he was watching TNT’s NHL pregame on Sunday.
Chalk rocks: Men's Final Four hits multi-year high

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Featuring four #1 seeds for just the second time, the NCAA men’s Final Four hit a multi-year viewership high. Saturday’s NCAA men’s basketball national semifinals averaged 15.3 million viewers on CBS, per Nielsen fast-nationals — up 19% from last year on TBS, TNT and truTV and the highest average for the Men’s Final Four since 2017.
Women's Final Four down big from record heights, still third-best in ESPN era

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Viewership for the NCAA Women’s Final Four came nowhere close to last year’s historic levels, but still remained among the highest in the 30 years ESPN has carried the event. Friday’s NCAA women’s basketball national semifinals averaged 3.9 million viewers across the ESPN networks, per Nielsen fast-nationals — trailing only the past two years as the highest average since ESPN began carrying the event exclusively in 1995.
Warriors-Lakers scores ahead of potential playoff meeting

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

With real stakes for the first time in quite some time, the latest chapter of the LeBron James-Stephen Curry rivalry delivered one of the stronger audiences of the season on cable. Thursday’s Warriors-Lakers NBA regular season game averaged 2.5 million viewers across TNT and truTV, up 70% from Nuggets-Clippers last year (1.5M) and the second-most watched NBA game on cable this season, excluding Opening Night.
The Needle: What is a good audience for this year's Women's Final Four?

2 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Welcome to “The Needle,” a new ratings-focused column on Sports Media Watch that will break down the numbers, attempt to put some context behind the data, and discuss broader trends in measurement and television viewing. What is a good audience for the post-Clark Women’s Final Four? There was never any question that the NCAA women’s basketball tournament would fail to sustain the historic pace set last year, when Caitlin Clark and Iowa generated audiences far above even the highest expectations.
Grant Hill staying with TNT Sports, will continue on March Madness

3 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

While the NBA is leaving TNT Sports after this season, Grant Hill is staying behind to remain on the company’s college basketball coverage. Hill has struck a “long-term” contract extension with TNT Sports to remain as the company’s lead college basketball analyst, it was announced Thursday. He will continue to serve on the lead broadcast team for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament — which TNT shares with CBS — and add new roles on TNT’s upcoming BIG EAST and Big 12 basketball games.
Women's regional semis, finals, down big from last year's records

3 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

If nowhere close to last year’s heights, viewership for the NCAA women’s basketball regionals did not fall all the way back to earth. The NCAA women’s basketball regional finals averaged 2.9 million viewers across the ESPN networks, down more than 50 percent from last year’s record-setting 6.2 million, but up 34% from two years ago and the second-highest average on record.
Men's Elite Eight no match for last year's Easter-fueled high

3 weeks ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

Out-of-home giveth and out-of-home taketh away, as last year’s Easter-inflated Elite Eight viewership set a bar too high for this year’s games to pass. The NCAA men’s basketball regional finals averaged a 4.2 rating and 9.0 million viewers across CBS, TBS and truTV, down 5% in ratings and 10% in viewership from last year (4.4, 10.1M) — when the Sunday games coincided with the Easter holiday. Compared to two years ago, viewership increased 4% from 8.7 million.