Sports Media Watch

5 days ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

It is no secret that the Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals has been something less than a ratings bonanza. The first five games averaged 9.18 million viewers, the worst five-game average for the Finals in the Nielsen people meter era (1988-present), save for Lakers-Heat in the fall 2020 “bubble” — a months-delayed, fanless, neutral site series that had to compete with the NFL, the election, and a presidential hospital stay.

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

A rainy final round of the U.S. Open was no match for a year ago.Last Sunday’s rain-affected final round of the U.S. Open averaged a 2.4 rating and 5.4 million viewers on NBC (5.05 million per Nielsen, plus Adobe Analytics), down 15% in ratings and 8% in viewership from last year (2.8, 5.9M). According to NBC, viewership was trending up six percent from last year until the rain delay.

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The Stanley Cup Final finished as it began, with another viewership low. Tuesday’s Oilers-Panthers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 6 averaged a series-high 2.8 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down a third from the same matchup on ABC last year (4.2M) and the least-watched Cup Final Game 6 since Rangers-Canucks on ESPN in 1994, a telecast that was non-exclusive (2.37M). Keep in mind it was the first Game 6 on cable since Stars-Sabres on ESPN in 1999, which drew 4.45 million.

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

The NBA Finals hit a series-high for a third-straight game, but there was barely any growth from Game 4 to Game 5. Monday’s Pacers-Thunder NBA Finals Game 5 averaged a series-high 9.54 million viewers on ABC, down 22% from last year’s Mavericks-Celtics clincher (12.22M) and the least-watched Game 5 of the Finals since Heat-Lakers in the fall 2020 “bubble,” which aired on a Friday night in October (9.19M).

1 week ago | sportsmediawatch.com | Jon Lewis

With at most two games left, the viewership trend for the Stanley Cup Final remains pretty much unchanged from the start of the series. Saturday’s Panthers-Oilers NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 5 averaged a series-high 2.7 million viewers across TNT and truTV, down 34% from the same matchup on ABC last year (4.1M) and slightly below Panthers-Golden Knights Game 5 on TNT Sports two years ago, making this year’s game the least-watched Cup Final Game 5 since 1994.