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
[07/09/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw gains on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+3% - 663,000 vs. 644,000) and Adults 18-49 (+4% - 96,000 vs. 92,000).

[07/08/25 - 06:05 PM]
ESPN Formula 1 Coverage Enjoying Record-Breaking Season of Viewership
11 of 12 races held so far this season have had year-over-year viewership growth and seven of the 12 have set event viewership records.

[07/08/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 30: "Squid Game" Season 3 Leads Top 10 Globally, Climbs to No. 3 on Most Popular
Plus: "The Waterfront" maintained its Top 10 empire as the No. 1 English show in its third week with 5.6 million views.

[07/08/25 - 06:30 AM]
New AMC/AMC+ Epic Adventure Drama "Nautilus" Surfaces with 2.6 Million Premiere Night Viewers on Linear TV
The highly anticipated series premiered on Sunday, June 29 on AMC and AMC+, with new episodes premiering weekly on Sundays until the thrilling two-episode season finale on August 17.

[07/03/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC News Same-Day Primetime Special "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" Is No. 1 in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
Versus the competition in the time period, "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" outperformed NBC by +40% in Adults 18-49 (212,000 vs. 151,000) and +22% in Adults 25-54.

[07/02/25 - 06:44 PM]
Tyler Perry's "Divorced Sistas" Quickly Rises to Become BET+'s Most Watched Original Series in Platform History
Just halfway through the eight-episode season, existing subscribers and new fans of the show have boosted the drama series to the most-watched series premiere on BET+ in just three weeks.

[07/02/25 - 02:38 PM]
Hallmark Channel Earns #1 Most-Watched Network on Weekends Throughout June with "Passport to Love" Programming Event
"Passport to Love" helped elevate Hallmark Channel to be the #1 most-watched network on weekends throughout the month of June.

[07/01/25 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Week of June 23: "Squid Game" Season 3 Takes Over with Record-Breaking Global Debut at No. 1
"The Waterfront" was a Top 10 hit once more as the No. 1 series on the English TV list (11.6 million views).

[07/01/25 - 10:26 AM]
ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Notes After Austrian Grand Prix
ESPN's live telecast on Sunday, June 29, averaged 1.1 million viewers, a two percent gain over last year's race and the largest audience ever for the event on U.S. television.

[07/01/25 - 09:16 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 66% from Last Year's Comparable Game
The audience peaked with 2,304,000 viewers in the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter hour.

[06/27/25 - 02:29 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Gears Up for Summer Rising Week to Week in All Key Measures
Wednesday, June 11, was the most-viewed day of the week among Total Viewers (2.164 million).

[06/27/25 - 10:31 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night in Adults 18-49 for Third Week in a Row
Winning three of five nights in Kimmel's final week before summer guest hosts, Thursday, June 19, was the show's strongest night among Adults 18-49 (0.35 rating).

[06/25/25 - 11:55 AM]
Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage
According to Nielsen, NASCAR on Prime posted a season average of 2.16 million viewers (AMA P2+) across five events, and attracted droves of younger viewers to its live coverage.

[06/25/25 - 07:58 AM]
ABC News Primetime Special "Karen Read: The Verdict - A Special Edition of 20/20" Ranks #1 Across All of Broadcast and Cable in Adults 18-49
Plus: "Karen Read: The Verdict" placed No. 1 based on views among all titles on Hulu on Thursday (6/19), Friday (6/20) and Saturday (6/21).

[06/24/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week, and Claims Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 5th Straight Week
On Monday (6/16/25), "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.112 million) in 5 months.