or


[04/27/12 - 01:25 PM]
ESPN's Second Highest-Rated and Second Most-Viewed NFL Draft
ESPN spins the numbers for Thursday, April 26.

[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN's Second Highest-Rated and Second Most-Viewed NFL Draft

Rating Up 16 Percent vs. 2011

ESPN's live telecast of the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 26, averaged 6,661,000 viewers with a 5.1 household coverage rating based on fast nationals, according to the Nielsen Company.

The rating was an increase of 16 percent from last year's first round, which earned a 3.8 rating. Viewership was up 11 percent over last year's 6,003,000 average. In addition, last night's opening round ranks as the second highest-rated and second most-viewed NFL Draft telecast on record, behind only the 2010 first round (5.3 rating and 7,290,000 viewers). ESPN has televised the NFL Draft annually since 1980 and the event has received ratings since 1983.

Last night's ESPN telecast peaked at a 5.8 rating between 8:30 and 9 p.m. ET. The top five metered markets included: Cleveland (10.7 rating), Birmingham, Ala., (10.5), Dayton, Ohio (8.3), Columbus, Ohio (7.3) and Buffalo, N.Y. (7.3).

NFL content across ESPN digital platforms generated an average minute audience of 84,000 yesterday, up 11 percent compared to the same day last year. The NFL section on ESPN.com specifically had an average minute audience of 24,000, up nine percent. Meanwhile, the NFL section on the mobile Web had an average minute audience of 21,000, up 50 percent.

ESPN's live NFL Draft coverage continues tonight at 7 p.m. (rounds 2 and 3) and Saturday at 12 p.m. (rounds 4-7). In addition, SportsCenter and ESPN's NFL-themed news and information programs will continue to provide coverage of the event throughout the weekend.





  [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
[01/23/26 - 12:44 PM]
"20/20" Improves on the Previous Week in Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, Hitting an 8-Week High in the Key Adult News Demo
"20/20" ranked No. 1 in its two-hour time period in Adults 25-54.

[01/23/26 - 12:28 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers
"Nightline" posted double-digit increases week to week in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49.

[01/23/26 - 10:31 AM]
"College GameDay Built by The Home Depot" Closes Out Historic Season with 2.6 Million Viewers Highlighting Hurricanes and Hoosiers
The six postseason GameDay shows delivered 2.4 million average viewers, up 30 percent year-over-year.

[01/23/26 - 07:37 AM]
Historic Back-to-Back Stretch: ESPN Delivers Its No. 1 and No. 8 Most-Watched Events Ever on Consecutive Days
Across Sunday and Monday, fans consumed 18.7 billion total minutes across ESPN, ABC and ESPN2 - a 28% increase from last season's Divisional Round game and Championship Monday on the same networks.

[01/22/26 - 03:39 PM]
Special Premiere of "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins" Is the Season's Most-Watched Comedy Episode
The series drew 5.8 million viewers and a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demo in its special premiere that aired Sunday, January 18.

[01/22/26 - 02:05 PM]
ESPN's MegaCast of the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T Delivers 30.1 Million Viewers - The Most-Viewed College Football Game in 11 Years
The game scored 30.1 million viewers, the most-watched college football game since the inaugural CFP National Championship (33.9 million viewers, Oregon/Ohio State, 2014-15) and the second most-watched National Championship of the CFP era.

[01/22/26 - 12:48 PM]
ABC Wednesday Comedies Score with Stellar Midseason Premieres
"Shifting Gears" and "Abbott Elementary" are among top scripted shows of the week in adults 18-49.

[01/22/26 - 07:58 AM]
NBC Sports Delivers Its Most Watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game on Record as Rams-Bears Thriller Averages 45.4 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Rams-Bears - which increased in every quarter hour from 8:15 p.m. ET until the game-winning score - peaked in the game's closing minutes, with an average of 52.6 million viewers from 9:45-10 pm ET.

[01/21/26 - 10:58 AM]
ABC's Tuesday Dramas Soar with Midseason Premieres
In fact, "High Potential" and "Will Trent" were the top two scripted programs of the week among Total Viewers.

[01/20/26 - 01:01 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the Second Half of 2025
"KPop Demon Hunters" took the world by storm, breaking records as our most-watched title over a six-month period with 482M views.

[01/20/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of January 12 - "The Rip" Confiscates the No. 1 Spot in This Week's Top 10
Mistrust was the theme of the week, as viewers put the murder-mystery thriller "His & Hers" at No. 1 on the English TV list with 29.5 million views.

[01/16/26 - 01:08 PM]
"20/20" Is the Most-Watched Program Across Broadcast and Cable on Friday Night - Scoring Largest Viewership in Over 7 Months
For the second week in a row, "20/20" posted Total Viewers increases versus the previous week and the corresponding year-ago telecast.

[01/15/26 - 01:38 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Christmas Week Shoots to a Season High Among Total Viewers - Scoring Show's Best Performance in 10 Months
"Live" has now ranked as the No. 1 talk show in syndication for 152 consecutive weeks across all key measures.

[01/13/26 - 03:02 PM]
2025-26 College Football Playoff Semifinals Averaging 14.9 Million Viewers, On Par with 2024-25 Season
The Peach Bowl (Oregon vs. Indiana) drew 18 million viewers on average, while the Fiesta Bowl (Miami vs. Ole Miss) scored 15.8 million viewers.

[01/13/26 - 02:30 PM]
FOX Sports Holds Winning Hand Leading All Networks in Viewership on Wild Card Weekend
41 million viewers watched FOX Sports' presentation of Sunday's NFC Wild Card Round showdown featuring the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Philadelphia Eagles.