or


[04/05/12 - 03:38 PM]
NBA Doubleheader & MLB Opener Make for Big Night for ESPN TV & Digital Platforms
ESPN spins the numbers for Wednesday, April 4.

[via press release from ESPN]

NBA Doubleheader & MLB Opener Make for Big Night for ESPN TV & Digital Platforms

Last night's convergence of the Opening Night of Major League Baseball on ESPN and a key NBA doubleheader across ESPN2 and ESPN led to a big night on ESPN's television and digital platforms. The highlights include:

· the highest rated NBA game ever on ESPN2 boosting the network to winning the night among networks, cable or broadcast, among M18-34

· ESPN's highest-rated MLB game ever in Miami, with national audience up four percent vs. last year

· and the highest rated market for MLB's Opening Night in five years, a 15.9 in St. Louis.

The baseball game on ESPN -- the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the new-look Miami Marlins - averaged 2,416,000 viewers (P2+), an increase of four percent compared to last year's Opening Night (San Francisco - Los Angeles Dodgers). Both games drew a 1.8 household rating. The NBA game that followed - a battle of the Staples Center, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers - drew a strong 1.9 rating; outperforming the network's season average for NBA games by 27% (1.5 season to date). The telecast average 2,421,000 viewers.

On ESPN2, the early evening NBA contest with the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Miami Heat, delivered a 2.3 rating, the network's best rating for any programming in 2012. Since the start of 2010, only one weeknight prime-time telecast has done better on ESPN2 (NFL Draft, April 23, 2010, 2.6). It also is the best NBA rating ever on ESPN2, regular season or playoffs (54 games since 2002, previous record: Sacramento at Dallas Western Conference Semifinals Game 1 on May 6, 2003, 1.7 rating). The game averaged 2,977,000 viewers. All ratings are according to Nielsen.

Based on the overnight ratings of metered markets:

· The MLB Opener - the first game in Marlins Park, won by the defending World Series Champion Cardinals 4-1 over Miami - registered a 5.4 rating in Miami, the highest ever for a regular-season ESPN MLB telecast in the market, and the second-highest for the game nationally.

· In St. Louis, the baseball game's 15.9 overnight rating was the highest for any metered market for an Opening Night telecast on ESPN or ESPN2 in the past five years (St. Louis garnered a 17.6 in 2007 for the Mets/Cardinals).

· The Oklahoma City/Miami NBA game on ESPN2 earned 5.9 in Oklahoma City, the third highest ever in that market for an NBA game on ESPN or ESPN2 (8.3 for Orlando/Oklahoma City on Christmas 2011, 8.0 for Miami/Oklahoma City on March 25, 2012).

ESPN's Digital Platforms

Wednesday's Oklahoma City/Miami Heat game on ESPN3 and WatchESPN across all platforms - computer, smartphone, tablet and Xbox - generated 6.1 million minutes, second only this NBA season to the Lakers vs. Knicks game February 10. It was also the second best game of the season on computers in terms of unique viewers and minutes.





  [april 2012]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.

[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.

[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.

[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.

[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.

[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.

[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.

[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.

[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).

[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.

[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.

[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.

[09/26/25 - 01:11 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Week Two Delivers Over 5 Million Total Viewers Rising Over Season Premiere for First Time in 14 Years
Once again, the show led its time period and stood as the No. 1 show of the night in Total Viewers (5.46 million) and Adults 18-49 (1.02 rating).

[09/25/25 - 02:05 PM]
Viewers Have Watched More Than 8 Billion Minutes of "Big Brother" This Summer - Up +27% from Last Year
Multiplatform average episode viewership grew to 5.1 million, up +23% versus last year in 35-days of viewing, outpacing the competition.

[09/24/25 - 02:47 PM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Returned on Tuesday to 6.26 Million Total Viewers on Broadcast, According to Initial Live+Same Day Measurement
In addition to linear ratings, the monologue has garnered more than 26 million views across YouTube and social platforms.