or


[02/02/22 - 02:07 PM]
ESPN's Best January in Seven Years in Prime, Leads Cable by Far
Getting out of the gate quickly in 2022, ESPN posted its strongest January in seven years in prime time, leading cable television in delivery of viewers (P2+) and in the key P18-49 demo, as well as for that demo in total day viewership, all by wide margins.
[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN's Best January in Seven Years in Prime, Leads Cable by Far

Studio Shows Shine as Fans Seek Best Analysis, Highlights and Discussion in Sports

College Football, NFL, Men's and Women's College Basketball, NBA, NHL and Australian Open Contribute to Strong Performance

Getting out of the gate quickly in 2022, ESPN posted its strongest January in seven years in prime time, leading cable television in delivery of viewers (P2+) and in the key P18-49 demo, as well as for that demo in total day viewership, all by wide margins. In addition, several weekday studio shows enjoyed their most-viewed month in up to five years. Of course, the year began with strong performances from cable television's annually most-watched three programs - the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Championship - and Monday Night Football including the inaugural Week 18 doubleheader and the first MNF Wildcard Playoff Game.

Against the Cable Competition

For ESPN in prime time, it was the most-viewed month in seven years, since January 2015, averaging 3.7M viewers (P2+) to top the cable television rankings, 67% more than second-place Fox News Channel. Among P18-49, ESPN averaged 1.3M viewers, its highest since December 2019, fully 365% ahead of second-place TNT.

With its best month among P18-49 since December 2019, ESPN led cable networks in total day, averaging 470K viewers, just more than triple the next best network, TBS. Among all viewers, ESPN ranked second with 1.3M viewers, its best month in exactly five years (since January 2017), just behind FNC's 1.4M.

Studio Show Success

Numerous ESPN studio shows garnered an audience in January unseen in up to five years or more. January was:

· NFL Live's best month since September 2016 (over five years).

· Around the Horn's best month since January 2017 (five years).

· This Just In's best month ever.

· First Take's best month since December 2019.

· The 12 - 1 p.m. ET SportsCenter's best month since December 2019. It was up 28% vs. last year and up 10% over 2020.

· The 1 a.m. SportsCenter's best month since December 2019. It was up 31% from last year and up 1% over 2020.

· The weekend morning SportsCenter editions' best month since January 2020.

· Pardon the Interruption's best month since January 2020.

· Get Up's second-most-viewed month ever (behind only November 2021).

Their success helped lead ESPN to an average of 1.1M viewers for 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., the network's best since January 2017 and the best of all cable networks in the P18-49 category, more than double No. 2-TBS. In total viewers, ESPN was second, behind only FNC.

Event Programming Contributes to Strength of ESPN's January

After the football season, for the rest of January other sports continued to make it a memorable month for ESPN. These included select strong audiences for Men's and Women's College Basketball, NBA, NHL and the Australian Open Men's Championship.

-30-





  [february 2022]  
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
[09/29/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 21 - "Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" Takes the No. 1 Spot for a Second Week
"Unabomber" premiered in the top spot on the English film list, gathering 16.4 million views.

[09/29/26 - 12:00 PM]
USA Sports Delivers Viewership Records and Milestones in Inaugural Season of WNBA Coverage Ahead of WNBA Finals on USA Network This October
USA Sports averaged 525,000 viewers across its 48 regular-season games - the most national games of any broadcaster - up 25% vs. 2025 WNBA cable average viewership.
[09/29/26 - 09:50 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Finishes 2025-2026 Season with Largest Overall Audience in Eight Years and Strongest Adults 18-49 in Four Years
In the final week of the 2025-2026 season, "Jimmy Kimmel Live" ranked No. 1 in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49.
[09/28/26 - 02:45 PM]
The "VMAs" Scores 8.4 Million Viewers, Up +51% from Last Year, and Hits 11-Year Viewership High
The telecast peaked with over 15 million viewers across CBS and MTV in the opening act, which featured Madonna's first "VMAs" performance in 23 years, including a show-opening medley with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX.

[09/25/26 - 10:51 AM]
Cartman, Kenny, Stan, Kyle and "South America's" Season 29 Premiere Delivers 4.2 Million Multiplatform U.S. Viewers Across Comedy Central and Paramount+
The season premiere on Comedy Central outperformed last season's premiere by double digits on persons 18-49 rating and share and was the #1 non-sports cable telecast for the week with persons 18-49.

[09/25/26 - 10:35 AM]
ESPN Delivered Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season Ever!
Across 29 games, the WNBA on ESPN networks averaged 1.37M viewers, up 17% year-over-year and ranking as ESPN networks' most-viewed WNBA regular season on record.

[09/24/26 - 12:25 PM]
ABC News Wins Across the Board in Late Night and Friday Night
"20/20" ranks as Friday's No. 1 newsmagazine in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, drawing its largest audience in two months and growing year to year in all key measures.
[09/23/26 - 02:56 PM]
Giants-Rams Becomes ESPN's Most-Watched Week 2 "Monday Night Football" Game Ever with 19.4 Million Viewers
Through the first two weeks, "Monday Night Football" is averaging 21.4 million viewers, up 29% compared to the first two weeks of the 2025 season.
[09/23/26 - 11:01 AM]
Top 10 Most-Watched Prime Original Films & Series for the Week of September 14
"Reacher," "Neagley," "Sterling Point," "El Juicio," and "The Grand Tour" led all original series worldwide.
[09/22/26 - 03:08 PM]
Record-Breaking Week 3: ESPN/ABC Claim Every Saturday Window; "College GameDay" Continues Historic Start to the Season
ESPN networks delivered the top five most-watched games of Week 3 and accounted for two-thirds of all college football viewing.
[09/22/26 - 02:34 PM]
FOX's "America's Game of the Week" Scores Regular Season High 27,212,000 Viewers in Week 2
Said coverage was up +8% vs. last year's full season average of 25,269,000 viewers.
[09/22/26 - 02:17 PM]
Colts-Chiefs Overtime Thriller Is Most Watched Week 2 NBC "Sunday Night Football" Game Since 2015, Averaging 24.3 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock
The audience for Colts-Chiefs peaked at 27.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the second quarter (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).
[09/22/26 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10: Week of September 14 - "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Again?" Holds No. 1 for a Second Week
"Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story" debuted at the top of the English TV list with 12.1 million views.
[09/22/26 - 12:00 PM]
"Dateline" Is the #1 Friday Newsmagazine in Both Key Demos for Second Consecutive Broadcast Season
The broadcast remains the #1 most-watched news magazine franchise and #1 most-watched true-crime franchise in total linear minutes watched for the season, with 151.2 million total viewers, up +4% vs. last season.

[09/21/26 - 07:02 AM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Season 35 "Two-Night Premiere: Night 2" Swings to 6.44 Million Total Viewers as the Ladies Take Their Turn in the Ballroom
"Dancing with the Stars" ranked as TV's No. 1 show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 on both Tuesday and Wednesday across all entertainment programming.