Ratings Roundup: CBS’s Army-Navy Game Hits 15-Year High; Cowboys-Eagles Is Most-Watched SNF Game of Season

CBS Sports’ broadcast of the 115th Army-Navy game on Saturday, Dec. 13 (2:56-6:21 PM, ET) was the highest-rated and most-watched in 15 years. The game earned a preliminary average national household rating/share of 4.1/10, up 5% from last year’s 3.9/8 and averaged 6.3 million viewers.  The 4.1/10 and 6.3 million viewers is the highest average rating and viewership since a 5.1/15 and 6.5 million in 1999…

…The Dallas Cowboys’ 38-27 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in a battle for first place in the NFC East averaged 24.3 million viewers to rank as NBC’s most-watched Sunday Night Football game of the season (excluding NBC’s Thursday night “NFL Kickoff” game) and television’s most-watched Sunday primetime program since the Academy Awards on March 2, 2014 (38.3 million on ABC). The 24.3 million viewers for the Cowboys’ victory topped the 23.8 million who watched on October 19 as Denver QB Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s record for career touchdown passes. In addition, Dallas-Philadelphia exceeded by 48% the viewership for last year’s Week 15 SNF game (16.4 million for Bengals-Steelers). The only primetime game to top Cowboys-Eagles this season is Packers-Seahawks in the Thursday “NFL Kickoff” game on NBC (27.1 million viewers on Sept. 4). Cowboys-Eagles on Sunday Night Football (8:31-11:40pm ET) was the most-watched and highest rated (14.3/24) primetime show of the week based on live + same day metrics, and also topped primetime in Adults 18-49 and all key male demographics. Through 17 NFL telecasts, NBC’s SNF is primetime television’s #1 show in HH rating (12.6), average viewership (21.5 million viewers), and in the Adults 18-49 demographic (7.8 rating), based on live + same day metrics…

…The Week 15 Saints/Bears Monday Night Football game drew a 7.1 final rating and 11.1 million viewers on ESPN, down 21% in ratings and 22% in viewership from Ravens/Lions last year (9.0, 14.2M). The Saints’ win tied ESPN’s lowest Monday Night Football rating of the season, matching Chargers/Cardinals in Week 1 and ahead of Ravens/Saints in Week 12 (6.7M). Viewership was the second-lowest of the season, ahead of only Ravens/Saints (10.9M). (SportsMediaWatch)…

…As for the Week 15 Sunday games, CBS’s singleheader drew a 12.3 overnight rating on CBS, up 14% from last year and the highest of the season for the singleheader on CBS (eight telecasts), topping the previous mark of 11.7 in Week 11. Fox’s Week 15 NFL national window, featuring 49ers/Seahawks in 84% of markets, drew a 16.8 overnight rating on FOX Sunday afternoon — down 7% from coverage featuring Packers/Cowboys last year (18.1). Prior to that The Week 15 Cardinals/Rams Thursday Night Football game drew 7.7 million viewers on NFL Network, down 14% from Chargers/Broncos last year (8.9M). (SportsMediaWatch)…

NBCSN is on pace for its best year ever in 2014 (live plus same day data), averaging 145,000 viewers through the first 50 weeks of the year and will finish 2014 with its best-ever Total Day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.) viewership. By a wide margin NBCSN will be the fastest growing sports cable network in Total Day viewership. Buoyed by record viewership for the Sochi Olympics, the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Premier League’s best-ever calendar year on U.S. sports cable, as well as rising ratings for Formula One and IndyCar racing. NBCSN has averaged 145,000 Total Day viewers to-date in 2014 (Dec. 30, 2013-Dec. 14, 2014) – which will rank as the most-watched calendar year in the network’s history (previous best: 118,000 viewers in 2009). NBCSN’s Total Day viewership growth of 54% (145,000 vs. 94,000 last year) makes it the fastest-growing sports cable network in ’14. The 54% growth is more than five times greater than any other sports cable net. Even excluding the Winter Olympics, NBCSN has averaged 116,000 viewers to-date — up 23% from 2013 and topping the growth of all other sports cable networks. In the key Total Day demographics, NBCSN has posted a 46% increase in Adults 18-49, and a 48% increase in Adults 25-54. Those increases also rank first compared to other sports cable networks…

…Univision Deportes aired its most-viewed Liga MX Apertura Final since 2006 on Dec. 14. The match, which aired on Univision from 6:55 p.m. – 9:14 p.m. on December 14, 2014, delivered an average of 3.0 million Total Viewers and 1.9 million Adults 18-49. This is the most-viewed Liga MX Apertura final since 2006, across all networks. This was also the 3rd most-viewed LMX final ever across all networks. Univision’s broadcast of the Liga MX Apertura 2014 final between America and Tigres reached 5.4 million Total Viewers who tuned into all or part of the broadcast. This is the most-viewed club soccer match on any network in 2014, including English Premier League (EPL), UEFA Champions League, Major League Soccer and other leagues. The match drew +113% more Total Viewers and +140% more Adults than the most-viewed EPL match in NBC Networks history (11/22/14, Manchester United – Arsenal on NBC), and bested the UEFA Champions League final on Fox by +55% and +70%, respectively. UDN (Univision Deportes Network) ranked as the No. 1 cable sports network in primetime on Sunday, regardless of language, among Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, outperforming ESPN2 by +103% and +117%, ESPN by +42% and +98% and FS1 by +42% and +74%, respectively. UDN had its most-viewed LMX playoffs ever, averaging 438,000 Adults 18-49 per game, besting its prior best playoff average by +21%…

…Univision Deportes also delivered its largest Liga MX live stream of all time. The second match against America and Tigres on Sunday, December 14, 2014 ranks as UDN’s largest Liga MX live stream of all time. Nearly all (95%) of the match’s streams occurred in the Univision Deportes app. The America vs. Tigres (12/14) match ranks as the third largest live stream post World Cup, behind only the Mexico vs. Belarus match (11/18) and Mexico vs. Netherlands (11/12)…

…Ratings for the Clippers and Lakers in the Los Angeles market were down double digits percentage-wise over their first 20 games versus the same period last season. The Lakers averaged a 2.25 rating for those games on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, down 28% from the 3.14 at the start of last season. The Clippers averaged a 1.24 on Prime Ticket, down 16% from the 1.47 they achieved early last season. The Lakers’ ratings are near the historic low of 2.11 they averaged all of last season, the worst on record for local Lakers telecasts and a 54% drop from the 2012-13 season, when they averaged a 4.63. That said, the Clippers ratings in the highly coveted 18-34 demographic were up a staggering 41% over the first 20 games of last season. The Lakers were showing a decline of 13% in the same demographic. In addition TWC Sportsnet’s ratings for “Backstage: Lakers” episodes have doubled from the same period last season, from .07 to .14. (Los Angeles Times)…

…Tuesday’s Warriors/Grizzlies NBA regular season game drew 1.9 million viewers on ESPN, the season’s third-largest audience for a game that did not involve the Cavaliers or Lakers (26 telecasts). The Thunder/Kings nightcap drew 1.5 million. On Wednesday, ESPN drew 1.0 million for Nets/Raptors and 1.2 million for Rockets/Nuggets, down 62% and 41%, respectively, from last year’s Pacers/Heat and Bulls/Rockets doubleheader. (SportsMediaWatch)…

…UFC Fight Night on Fox: Dox Santos vs. Miocic delivered Fox first place finishes in primetime across several key demos, including Men 18-34, Adults 18-34 and Men 18-49. UFC Fight Night on Fox: Dox Santos vs. Miocic peaked at a 2.3/4 household rating/share with 3.8 million viewers. The entire UFC Fight Night on Fox averaged a 1.6/3 with 2.8 million viewers on Saturday evening. Fox led primetime in Men 18-34 (1.2 vs. 0.6 on CBS), Men 18-49 (1.4 vs. 1.1 on CBS) and Adults 18-34 (1.1 vs. 0.7 on CBS). UFC Fight Night Prelims on Fox Sports 1 at 5:00 PM ET Saturday delivered a .58 rating with 654,000 viewers, up 7% from last December’s UFC on FOX Prelims. Strong viewership of UFC Fight Night: A Champion Will Be Crowned carried over to FOX SPORTS LIVE’s post-fight coverage, which averaged 300,000 viewers from 11:48 PM -1:00 AM ET, a 39% jump over its December 2013 average in the Friday 11:45 PM ET – 1:00 AM ET window (216,000)…

…The Heisman Trophy Presentation drew 3.2 million viewers on ESPN Saturday night, down 25% from last year (4.2M), down 36% from 2012 (4.9M), and the smallest audience for the telecast since 2006 (3.0M). (SportsMediaWatch)…

…The lack of suspense in the Heisman race (Oregon’s Marcus Mariota attracted 90.92% of first-place votes) also hurt The ESPN 30 For 30 documentary The U Part II, as it earned 1.9 million viewers Saturday night, down 5% from Youngstown Boys last year (2.0M) and the least-watched post-Heisman documentary in the series. (SportsMediaWatch)

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