Sports Ratings Report for Weeks of November 17-30

Primetime – Nov 17-23
Vwrs
(000)

Change

Lst Wk Lst Yr

=

=

3538

+16%

+11%

#2

=

=

1137

-4%

+3%

#3

=

=

465

-44%

-34%

#4

=

+2

351

+65%

+158%

#5

+1

-1

223

+46%

-3%

#6

-1

-1

160

-9%

+8%

#7

=

=

87

-1%

-5%

#8

=

+1

79

+10%

-4%

#9

=

-1

67

+16%

-26%

#10

=

=

45

-8%

-13%

Total Day – Nov 17-23
Vwrs
(000)

Change

Lst Wk Lst Yr

=

=

1192

-3%

-0%

#2

+1

+1

317

+1%

+10%

#3

-1

-1

301

-19%

-11%

#4

=

=

128

-20%

-28%

#5

=

+1

123

+31%

+64%

#6

+1

-1

97

+37%

-12%

#7

-1

+1

73

-13%

+26%

#8

=

-1

62

+5%

-3%

#9

=

-1

58

+12%

0%

#10

=

=

28

-13%

-7%

There’s a very real possibility I may not need SotB’s Awful Announcing posts (which at this point, include everything I already have except for the rankings) to do the weekly network summaries anymore. TVNewser’s “Cable News Ranker” posts include a document with week-by-week, month-by-month, quarter-by-quarter, and (presumably) year-by-year reports of average audience, average number of households watching, and household “coverage” percentage (a number that presumably reflects the audience estimates that have hardly been reported at all all year)… for (almost) every single Nielsen-rated cable network, as well as each network’s rank compared to the others. To see Nielsen include so many numbers I had thought I was the only one interested in, as well as a number I didn’t even dare to think of but is incredibly useful to put the others in context, that can potentially allow me to include networks SotB doesn’t report information for for whatever reason, blew me away. This may be the most felicitous development since I learned about how comprehensive SotB was being on his blog.

Or, it would be… but there’s a problem. No matter what, TVNewser does only one of these posts a week. So every month It puts up the rankings for the entire month just past but skips a week. Okay, I can just use TVNewser for monthly wrapups, but every three months it puts up the quarterly rankings for the three months just past, and skips that month. I’d bet anything that at year’s end it’ll put up the yearly rankings and skip the fourth quarter, but I don’t think these posts even go back that far, which actually surprises me because I’m pretty damn sure I’ve seen the sort of image that leads the post before, even if it didn’t have this comprehensive document. So it’s vaguely useful for a year-end rating roundup, but that’s it, and no matter what I use it for I can’t do the year-on-year comparisons I’m used to for the near future. (I guess I can accept that it would get pretty crowded if at the end of the year you had the rankings for the last week, and for December, and for the fourth quarter, and for the entire year…)

So this is more of a proof of concept than anything else, taking the November ratings, one of the four all year where I can take the month’s ratings and do a comparison to the previous month. Because I still can’t do the median minute ratings without SotB’s comprehensive information, I would probably still split primetime and total day into two tables given the sheer magnitude of information involved. I’m also assuming “ENN” is short for ESPNEWS, but it’s entirely possible it’s just not on the list; Fox Deportes is the only Spanish-language sports network on the list, and not only have I seen plenty of ratings reported for Univision Deportes and ESPN Deportes (and seen UDN on both the TVMI and TVbytheNumbers lists), I’ve actually seen UDN advertise its weekly summary data of this sort, so clearly not all Nielsen-rated networks are on the list (the disclaimer says it “includes only those cable networks who [sic] supply program names to the industry”, whatever that means – for what it’s worth HBO, which often tops the daily lists with shows like Game of Thrones and True Blood, doesn’t show up either, and neither does FXX, but FXM does).

Regardless, the lack of Spanish-language networks means I’m limiting this list to the same bank of networks I always use. Overall rankings are out of 96 networks for primetime and 98 for total day; note that Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network are each considered to be two networks for Nielsen purposes for their nighttime adult-oriented Nick@Nite and Adult Swim blocks respectively, and only the latter appear in the primetime ranks. Yes, that means MLBN is very near the bottom in both measures. It could be worse; Fox Sports 2 outpaces only Tr3s, MTV’s Hispanic-oriented network, and the dying corpse of G4. (MLBN and FS2 have VH1 Classic, mun2, and Al Jazeera America between them in some order in both measures.)

PT Ovr Rank
Vwr (000)
LM
Chng
HH
(Cvr)
LM
Chng
TD Ovr Rank
Vwr (000)
LM
Chng
HH
(Cvr)
LM
Chng

1

=

2.4

+19%

1

=

0.9

+12%

=

3881

+21%

2.9

+0.4

=

1376

+14%

1.1

+0.1

2

#13

+13

0.6

+76%

2

#28

+1

0.2

+4%

+1

949

+82%

1.0

+0.5

+1

316

+3%

0.3

=

3

#30

-2

0.3

+7%

3

#38

+10

0.2

+26%

+1

540

+4%

0.4

=

+1

274

+32%

0.3

+0.1

4

#50

-41

0.2

-76%

4

#61

-34

0.1

-63%

-2

276

-76%

0.2

-0.7

-2

124

-63%

0.1

-0.2

5

#64

+15

0.1

+49%

5

#70

+13

0.1

+45%

+2

163

+55%

0.2

+0.1

+5

81

+59%

0.1

=

6

#71

-5

0.1

-4%

6

#72

=

0.1

+3%

-1

132

-10%

0.1

=

=

79

+1%

0.1

=

7

#72

-3

0.1

-3%

7

#74

-10

0.1

+2%

-1

132

+2%

0.1

=

-2

76

unch

0.1

=

8

#79

+4

0.1

+33%

8

#80

=

0.0

+4%

+1

85

+8%

0.1

=

+1

59

+5%

0.1

=

9

#83

+4

0.0

+10%

9

#82

-3

0.0

-4%

+1

69

+15%

0.1

=

-1

55

-5%

0.1

=

10

#90

-8

0.0

-43%

10

#92

-14

0.0

-50%

-2

44

-45%

0.1

=

-3

28

-53%

0.0

-0.1

Primetime – Nov 24-30
Vwrs
(000)

Change

Lst Wk Lst Yr

=

=

4707

+33%

+34%

#2

+1

+1

413

-11%

-47%

#3

+1

-1

294

-16%

-63%

#4

+2

=

172

+8%

+1%

#5

-3

+2

151

-87%

+16%

#6

+1

=

113

+30%

-16%

#7

-2

-2

99

-56%

-38%

#8

+1

+1

89

+33%

+31%

#9

-1

-1

71

-10%

-18%

#10

=

=

55

+22%

+49%

Total Day – Nov 24-30
Vwrs
(000)

Change

Lst Wk Lst Yr

=

=

1559

+31%

+24%

#2

+1

=

304

+1%

-16%

#3

-1

+2

142

-55%

+33%

#4

+1

-1

121

-2%

-37%

#5

-1

-1

82

-36%

-56%

#6

+1

+1

72

-1%

+3%

#7

-1

-1

71

-27%

-18%

#8

=

=

69

+11%

+6%

#9

=

=

54

-7%

+15%

#10

=

=

32

+14%

+10%

With that out of the way, the reason why this post is so late is my own damn fault. I was always going to skip posting after Thanksgiving week – the following weekend, I still didn’t have numbers for Fox’s NFL singleheader for November 23, nor had TVMI put up a daily ratings post for the following Thanksgiving Sunday – but I could have easily posted this, with the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving in a single post, a week ago. Instead, I naively figured that surely, with the Thanksgiving scrambling of the ratings behind us, surely TVMI would make up the week it had fallen behind, and naively took the posting of the Thanksgiving Sunday ratings, as well as ratings for the following Monday and Tuesday, as a sign it was doing just that. Nope! TVMI hasn’t posted anything else since then as I write this, apparently not for reasons directly relating to Thanksgiving but because their source gets massively delayed in the weeks following the end of a sweeps month.

So after this post goes up, I’m just going to post anything I get whenever TVMI gets caught up enough to do another post, and tweet as each TVMI post goes up, except that if the only thing I tweet is something that would go in the weekly roundup I’ll skip it. Similarly, the November 24-30 chart below incorporates everything I would have tweeted from the entire Thanksgiving weekend. This policy will continue until TVMI gets reasonably caught up, which at this point I expect to be in early January at the earliest. (Incidentially, the complete lists incorporating SBD information probably aren’t going to go much beyond the million mark from now on because of the lack of complete information for Spanish-language networks.) Click here to learn more about how to read the charts.

Sports Ratings Highlights for Week of November 17-23

In addition to the sources for the Weekend Sports Ratings (TVbytheNumbers and TV Media Insights), this chart contains additional information from Awful Announcing and Sports Media Watch, as well as occasional other sources.

Vwr (mil) HH 18-49 Time Net
NFL: Dolphins @ Broncos
or Redskins @ 49ers

26.364

15.5

8.2

11/23 4:25 PM

CBS
Sunday Night Football:
Cowboys @ Giants

22.384

13.1

8.1

11/23 8:30 PM

NBC
NFL: Regional coverage (or 4 PM ET)

20.68

12.2

 

11/23 1:00 PM

FOX
Monday Night Football:
Steelers @ Titans

13.355

8.5

4.5

11/17 8:15 PM

ESPN+
Locals
NFL: Regional coverage

13.02

8.3

 

11/23 1:00 PM

CBS
Thursday Night Football:
Chiefs @ Raiders

8.555

5.2

2.7

11/20 8:30 PM

NFLN+
Locals
CFB: Boston College @ Florida State
or Wisconsin @ Iowa

5.65

3.6

 

11/22 3:30 PM

ABC
CFB: USC @ UCLA

4.85

2.9

1.4

11/22 8:00 PM

ABC
CFB: Minnesota @ Nebraska

3.362

2.2

1.1

11/22 12:00 PM

ESPN
CFB: Mississippi @ Arkansas

3.34

2.1

 

11/22 3:30 PM

CBS
CFB: Missouri @ Tennessee

3.318

1.9

1.0

11/22 7:15 PM

ESPN
CFB: Louisville @ Notre Dame

3.09

2.0

 

11/22 3:30 PM

NBC
MCBB: Kentucky v. Kansas

2.745

1.7

1.1

11/18 9:30 PM

ESPN
NBA: Spurs @ Cavaliers

2.648

1.7

1.2

11/19 7:00 PM

ESPN
MCBB: Michigan State v. Duke

2.482

1.6

0.9

11/18 7:00 PM

ESPN
NBA: Lakers @ Rockets

2.27

1.5

1.1

11/19 9:30 PM

ESPN

Sports Ratings Highlights for Week of November 24-30

Vwr (mil) HH 18-49 Time Net
NFL: Eagles @ Cowboys

32.031

14.2

10.3

11/27 4:30 PM

FOX
NFL: Patriots @ Packers

30.88

17.6

9.7

11/30 4:25 PM

CBS
NFL: Bears @ Lions

29.41

14.2

    CBS
NFL: Seahawks @ 49ers

22.85

11.4

7.4

11/27 8:30 PM

NBC
Sunday Night Football:
Broncos @ Chiefs

21.105

12.5

7.4

11/30 8:30 PM

NBC
NFL: Regional coverage (or 4 PM ET)

15.68

9.6

 

11/30 1:00 PM

FOX
NFL: Regional coverage

13.59

8.3

 

11/30 1:00 PM

CBS
CFB: Auburn @ Alabama

13.529

7.4

4.3

11/29 7:45 PM

ESPN
Monday Night Football:
Ravens @ Saints

11.366

7.0

3.8

11/24 8:15 PM

ESPN+
Locals
CFB: Michigan @ Ohio State

8.23

4.9

 

11/29 12:00 PM

ABC
CFB: Florida @ Florida State

5.964

3.5

1.9

11/29 3:30 PM

ESPN
CFB: Mississippi State @ Mississippi

5.16

3.1

 

11/29 3:30 PM

CBS
CFB: Arkansas @ Missouri

4.4

2.7

1

11/28 2:30 PM

CBS
CFB: Baylor @ Texas Tech
or Michigan State @ Penn State

4

2.4

 

11/29 3:30 PM

ABC
CFB: Nebraska @ Iowa

3.91

2.4

 

11/28 12:00 PM

ABC
CFB: Oregon @ Oregon State

3.301

1.9

0.9

11/29 8:00 PM

ABC
CFB: Virginia @ Virginia Tech

3.049

1.7

0.8

11/28 8:00 PM

ESPN
CFB: Stanford @ UCLA

2.93

1.9

0.6

11/28 3:50 PM

ABC
CFB: LSU @ Texas A&M

2.905

1.4

0.8

11/27 7:30 PM

ESPN
CFB: Arizona @ Arizona State

2.113

1.3

0.6

11/28 3:30 PM

FOX
CFB: South Carolina @ Clemson

2.017

1.3

0.6

11/29 12:00 PM

ESPN
CFB: Notre Dame @ USC

2

1.3

 

11/29 3:30 PM

FOX
Liga MX

1.768

0.8

0.8

11/29 5:55 PM

Univ.
CFB: TCU @ Texas

1.309

0.7

0.3

11/27 7:30 PM

FS1
NBA: Knicks @ Mavericks

1.253

0.8

 

11/26 7:30 PM

ESPN
Maui Invitational Championship:
Arizona @ San Diego State

1.14

0.7

 

11/26 10:30 PM

ESPN
NHL Thanksgiving Showdown:
Rangers @ Flyers

1.1

0.8

NBC
Battle 4 Atlantis: Oklahoma v. Wisconsin

1.042

0.6

 

11/28 4:30 PM

ESPN
Liga MX: Pumas UNAM v. Club America

1.036

0.5

0.5

11/26 10:55 PM

UDN
Bayou Classic: Grambling v. Southern

1.03

0.7

    NBC
Boxing After Dark:

1.023

0.4

11/29 10:56 PM

HBO
Orlando Classic Championship:
Kansas v. Michigan State

0.935

0.6

 

11/30 1:00 PM

ESPN
Boxing After Dark:

0.904

0.4

11/29 10:06 PM

HBO
Boxing After Dark:

0.865

0.4

11/29 11:14 PM

HBO
Maui Invitational:
Kansas State v. Arizona

0.847

0.6

0.3

11/25 7:30 PM

ESPN
ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating:
NHK Trophy

0.844

0.6

NBC
Liga MX

0.812

0.4

0.4

11/30 6:55 PM

UDN
CFB: Kentucky @ Louisville

0.809

0.5

 

11/29 12:00 PM

ESPN2
English Premier League:
Sunderland v. Chelsea

0.802

0.5

NBC
CFB: Washington @ Washington State

0.781

0.4

0.2

11/29 10:30 PM

FS1
CFB: Pittsburgh @ Miami (FL)

0.678

0.4

0.2

11/29 7:00 PM

ESPN2
English Premier League:
Manchester United v. Hull City

0.642

0.3

11/29 9:55 AM

NBCSN
Liga MX

0.622

0.3

0.3

11/29 8:00 PM

UDN
Orlando Classic:
Michigan State @ Marquette

0.612

0.3

0.2

11/28 9:15 PM

ESPN2
MLS Western Conference Finals:
Sounders FC v. Galaxy, Leg 2

0.573

0.3

0.3

11/30 9:20 PM

ESPN
Liga MX: Chiapas v. Toluca

0.487

0.2

0.2

11/27 10:00 PM

UDN
Liga MX: Monterrey v. Atlas

0.429

0.2

0.2

11/27 7:55 PM

UDN
MLS Eastern Conference Finals:
Revolution v. Red Bulls, Leg 2

0.228

0.1

11/29 3:00 PM

NBCSN

Top 25 Most-Viewed Sports Events for Week of October 20-26

These numbers are delayed a month to wait for SportsBusiness Daily’s ratings roundup to come out of the paywall. Other numbers from the same sources as before. Numbers in gray interpolated based on the rest of the chart.

Vwr (mil) HH 18-49 Time Net

1

NFL: Colts @ Steelers
or Raiders @ Browns

20.745

12.2

6.6

10/26 4:25 PM

CBS

2

Thursday Night Football:
Chargers @ Broncos

20.216

12.3

6.7

10/23 8:25 PM

CBS+
NFLN

3

Sunday Night Football:
Packers @ Saints

18.799

10.9

7.1

10/26 8:30 PM

NBC

4

NFL: Regional coverage (or 4 PM ET)

18.351

11.0

 

10/26 1:00 PM

FOX

5

NFL: Regional coverage

14.135

8.8

 

10/26 1:00 PM

CBS

6

Monday Night Football:
Texans @ Steelers

13.275

8.1

4.8

10/20 8:15 PM

ESPN

7

World Series Game 2:
Giants @ Royals

12.917

7.9

3.4

10/22 8:00 PM

FOX

8

World Series Game 5:
Royals @ Giants

12.635

7.3

3.3

10/26 8:00 PM

FOX

9

World Series Game 1:
Giants @ Royals

12.191

7.3

3.4

10/21 8:00 PM

FOX

10

World Series Game 3:
Royals @ Giants

12.133

7.2

3.1

10/24 8:00 PM

FOX

11

World Series Game 4:
Royals @ Giants

10.742

6.3

2.6

10/25 8:00 PM

FOX

12

NFL International Series:
Lions v. Falcons

8.526

5.5

 

10/26 9:30 AM

FOX

13

CFB: Mississippi State @ Kentucky

4.995

3.1

 

10/25 3:30 PM

CBS

14

CFB: Mississippi @ LSU

4.952

3.0

1.5

10/25 7:15 PM

ESPN

15

CFB: Ohio State @ Penn State

4.674

2.9

1.4

10/25 8:00 PM

ABC

16

NASCAR: Goody’s Headache
Relief Shot 500

4.083

2.5

0.8

10/26 1:30 PM

ESPN

17

CFB: Michigan @ Michigan State

3.803

2.4

 

10/25 3:30 PM

ABC

18

CFB: Texas @ Kansas State

3.061

2.0

1.0

10/25 12:00 PM

ESPN

19

CFB: Alabama @ Tennessee

2.589

1.5

0.7

10/25 7:30 PM

ESPN2

20

CFB: West Virginia @ Oklahoma State

1.775

1.2

0.6

10/25 3:30 PM

ESPN

21

CFB: Arizona State @ Washington

1.76

1.1

0.6

10/25 10:45 PM

ESPN

22

La Liga: Real Madrid v. Barcelona

1.486

10/25 11:50 AM

beIN+
beIÑ

23

English Premier League:
Manchester United v. Chelsea

1.29

0.7

10/26 12:00 PM

NBC

24

CFB: Miami (FL) @ Virginia Tech

1.221

0.8

0.4

10/23 8:00 PM

ESPN

25

CFB: Oregon @ California

1.179

0.7

0.4

10/24 10:00 PM

FS1

Top 25 Most-Viewed Sports Events for Week of October 27-November 2

Vwr (mil) HH 18-49 Time Net

1

NFL: Broncos @ Patriots
or Raiders @ Seahawks

29.094

16.8

9.4

11/2 4:25 PM

CBS

2

World Series Game 7:
Giants @ Royals

23.517

13.7

6.6

10/29 8:00 PM

FOX

3

NFL: Regional coverage (or 4 PM ET)

22.265

13.2

 

11/2 1:00 PM

FOX

4

Monday Night Football:
Redskins @ Cowboys

20.112

12.1

6.9

10/27 8:15 PM

ESPN+
Locals

5

Sunday Night Football:
Ravens @ Steelers

18.595

11.1

6.7

11/2 8:30 PM

NBC

6

World Series Game 6:
Giants @ Royals

13.33

8.8

3.5

10/28 8:00 PM

FOX

7

NFL: Regional coverage

9.259

5.8

 

11/2 1:00 PM

CBS

8

Thursday Night Football:
Saints @ Panthers

7.578

4.6

2.3

10/30 7:30 PM

NFLN+
Locals

9

CFB: Auburn @ Mississippi

5.797

3.4

1.8

11/1 7:00 PM

ESPN

10

CFB: Florida v. Georgia

5.711

3.7

 

11/1 3:30 PM

CBS

11

CFB: Florida State @ Louisville

4.972

3.1

1.6

10/30 7:30 PM

ESPN

12

NASCAR: AAA Texas 500

4.749

2.8

0.9

11/2 3:00 PM

ESPN

13

CFB: TCU @ West Virginia
or Purdue @ Nebraska

4.434

2.7

 

11/1 3:30 PM

ABC

14

NBA: Knicks @ Cavaliers
(LeBron James’ first game back in CLE)

4.024

2.6

1.7

10/30 8:00 PM

TNT

15

CFB: Notre Dame @ Navy

3.892

2.3

1.1

11/1 8:00 PM

CBS

16

NBA: Cavaliers @ Bulls

3.877

2.4

1.7

10/31 8:00 PM

ESPN

17

CFB: Illinois @ Ohio State or
Oklahoma State @ Kansas State

3.794

2.4

0.8

11/1 8:00 PM

ABC

18

NBA: Clippers @ Lakers

2.884

1.8

1.3

10/31 10:30 PM

ESPN

19

CFB: Arizona @ UCLA

2.705

1.7

0.9

11/1 10:30 PM

ESPN

20

Breeder’s Cup Classic

2.616

1.7

0.4

11/1 8:00 PM

NBC

21

CFB: Stanford @ Oregon

2.479

1.5

0.8

11/1 7:30 PM

FOX

22

NBA Opening Night:
Rockets @ Lakers

2.42

1.6

1.3

10/28 10:30 PM

TNT

23

NBA Opening Night:
Mavericks @ Spurs

2.301

1.5

1.0

10/28 8:00 PM

TNT

24

CFB: Arkansas @ Mississippi State

2.295

1.4

0.7

11/1 7:15 PM

ESPN2

25

Liga MX

2.123

1.0

0.9

11/1 6:55 PM

Univ.

 

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