Ratings Roundup: MLB All-Star Hits Record Low on Fox; ESPN’s Blasts Best HR Derby Since 2009

The 2015 MLB All-Star Game scored a 6.6/12 fast-national household rating/share, with an average audience of 10.9 million and remains the most-watched All-Star Game in American sport (beating the Pro Bowl’s 5.1, NBA All-Star Game’s 4.3, and NHL All-Star Game’s 1.2). However, the 6.6 rating is the lowest ever for the MLB All-Star Game (previously 6.8 in 2012) and viewership ranks as the second-lowest for the All-Star Game, ahead of 2012. The game was down 6% in ratings and 4% in viewership from last year (7.0, 11.3M).

The audience for the game began at 9.9 million from 8:24 – 8:30 and peaked at 12.1 million from 9:45-10:00 PM ET.  The last hour of the broadcast averaged 9.2 million viewers as the AL opened a four run lead. The game’s 10.9 million viewers falls within the 10.897 – 11.338 million range established for the last five MLB All-Star Games. Top 10 Markets were Kansas City, 31.4/50; Cincinnati, 22.8/37; St. Louis, 17.9/27; Pittsburgh, 13.2/22; Dayton, 11.4/19; Detroit, 10.4/17; Sacramento, 10.4/18; Minneapolis, 9.9/19; Columbus, Ohio, 9.7/16; San Diego, 9.0/18.

The game posted year-to-year gains among younger viewers including Male Teens 12-17 (+19%, 2.5 vs. 2.1); Men 18-34 (+3%, 3.4 vs. 3.3); and Adults 18-34 (+4%, 2.6 vs. 2.5). The 2015 All-Star Game ranks as the No. 1 program in primetime in Households and across all key male and adult demos including Men 18-34, Men 18-49, Men 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

On FOX Sports GO, the 2015 MLB All-Star Game registered 63,878 unique streamers for the simulcast, representing a huge +335% increase from last year’s game (14,679) (Fox Sports and SMW)…

…ESPN’s exclusive telecast of the 2015 Gillette Home Run Derby averaged 7,126,000 viewers (P2+) and a 4.2 US household rating, according to Nielsen, making it the most-viewed and highest-rated Home Run Derby since 2009 (8,250,000 viewers and 5.1 rating). ESPN won the night among all networks (broadcast and cable) in viewers, as well as all key male and adult demos. The Home Run Derby was the highest-rated telecast on cable among households, viewers (P2+) and adults 25-54; it was also the highest-rated telecast on both broadcast and cable among adults 18-34 and 18-49, and in all the key male demos (18-34, 18-49 and 25-54). Viewership was up 32% (5,402,000 viewers in 2014) while the rating witnessed a 24% increase (3.4 rating) from a year ago. It peaked from 9:30-10 p.m. ET with a 4.5 rating and from 10-10:30 p.m. with 7,517,000 viewers. Host market Cincinnati drew a 19.6, the highest local market rating for a Home Run Derby telecast ever on ESPN. The top five markets:

For the Home Run Derby on WatchESPN, there were 256,000 unique viewers, a 14% increase year-over-year, and 12.4 million total minutes viewed, a 10% increase.

In addition, ESPN’s telecast of the 2015 All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game delivered a 1.7 rating and 2,972,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated and most-viewed Celebrity Softball game since 2010 (2.1 rating and 3,201,000 viewers)…

…The 2015 ESPYS on ABC dominated Wednesday night and shot up from its year-ago telecast on ESPN (7/16/14) by 250% in Total Viewers (7.7 million vs. 2.2 million) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/8 vs. 1.1/4) to stand as the most-watched and highest-rated “ESPYS” ever. The ESPY’s was the most-watched program in all 6 half-hours of its 8:00-11:00 p.m. broadcast. In fact, the awards show swept the evening, standing as Wednesday’s No. 1 program in Total Viewers, all key Adult (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54) and Men (M18-34/M18-49/M25-54) demos. With its broadcast of “The 2015 ESPYS,” ABC beat its closest competition on the night by 51% in Total Viewers (7.7 million vs. 5.1 million – CBS) and by 100% in Adults 18-49 (2.2/8 vs. 1.1/4 – CBS, NBC and Fox tied). “The 2015 ESPYS” attracted ABC’s biggest summertime audience on the night since 2005 and the Net’s top young adult number since 2009 – since 7/13/05 and 9/2/09, respectively. “Peaking in the 10 o’clock hour, “The 2015 ESPYS” grew by 1.9 million viewers (6.6 million to 8.5 million) and 53% among young adults (1.7/7 to 2.6/9) from its first hour to its final hour. With 1,233,877 tweets, “The 2015 ESPYS” was Wednesday’s most-social broadcast. The top 5 highest-rated markets in Households: Kansas City (8.4/15), Atlanta (8.4/14), Philadelphia (8.1/14), Chicago (7.8/14) and Boston (7.6/14)…

…NBCSN’s first-ever live NASCAR Sprint Cup race led the network to several milestones this past weekend, including a total day average of 428,000 viewers, marking a 224% increase over the same weekend last year on NBCSN. NBCSN’s primetime Saturday presentation of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race averaged 3.2 million viewers – ranking as the most-watched cable sporting event of the week and topping all Saturday sports programming (broadcast or cable). NBCSN’s viewership for the telecast topped Saturday’s second-most watched sporting event by 10% (regionalized MLB coverage – including Yankees vs. Red Sox – on Fox, 2.9 million viewers). Viewership for Saturday’s NASCAR telecast peaked at 3.7 million viewers from 10:30-10:45 p.m. ET as Kyle Busch took control of the race in dramatic fashion.

NBCSN’s Friday night NASCAR XFINITY Series race averaged 1.1 million viewers – ranking as Friday’s most-watched cable sports program. NBCSN’s Sunday afternoon Verizon IndyCar Series telecast from Milwaukee averaged 532,000 viewers, making it the network’s most-watched IndyCar race since Sept. 4, 2011 (591,000, Baltimore). It was also up 66% vs. last year’s Milwaukee race (320,000 viewers). This was the second consecutive telecast in which NBCSN posted its best IndyCar viewership since the 2011 Baltimore race (Fontana, June 27, 512,000 viewers).

NBCSN’s NASCAR America 5:00 p.m. ET studio program averaged 164,000 viewers last week, making it the most-watched week in the history of the studio program. Monday’s NASCAR America telecast tallied 279,000 average viewers and was the most watched live NASCAR America telecast to date.  Fans streamed 2.1 million minutes of live NASCAR racing last weekend via NBC Sports Live Extra…

…The last two U.S. Men’s National Team CONCACAF Gold Cup matches on Fox Sports 1 each pulled in over 1 million viewers. The USMNT’s 1-1 draw with Panama on Monday, July 13, registered 1,085,000 viewers, becoming the most-watched non-FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer match in FOX Sports 1 history, eclipsing the USA vs. Haiti Gold Cup match on Friday, July 10, which recorded 1,035,000 viewers and held the previous top spot through the weekend. The USMNT’s Gold Cup matches vs. Panama and Haiti are now the sixth and ninth-most watched soccer matches overall on FOX Sports 1 and the two most-watched Gold Cup Group Stage matches on any FOX property. Younger viewers continue to drive the high viewership numbers, as the Adults 18-49 demographic attracted 644,000 viewers for USA vs. Panama and 507,000 for USA vs. Haiti.

Through Monday, all Gold Cup Group Stage matches on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 are averaging 343,000 viewers, a +90% increase over the full Group Stage average for the 2013 Gold Cup on FOX Soccer and FOX broadcast network. The three USA Group Stage matches averaged 1,036,000 viewers, which is a +92% increase over the 2013 USA Group Stage average on FOX Soccer and FOX (540,000).

USA vs. Panama also set records for Gold Cup matches on FOX Sports GO, as the match was streamed for over 2.1 million minutes, the most of any Gold Cup match to-date. The 48,297 streamers for USA vs. Panama ranks second only to USA vs. Honduras on July 7. USA vs. Haiti on July 10 now ranks third with 41,770 streamers…

…On Sunday, CBS drew a 2.8/6 overnight rating/share for the final round of the PGATour John Deere Classic, which saw Jordan Spieth defeat Tom Gillis on the second hole of a playoff. That is up 133% over last year’s score and is best Sunday rating since ’99, when J.L. Lewis won in a playoff. Overall, CBS Sports’ 2015 PGA Tour national ratings are up 13% over last year. (SBD)…

… The debut of ESPN’s new Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN presented by Corona Extra (PBC on ESPN) series—featuring Keith “One-Time” Thurman vs. Luis Collazo and Willie Nelson vs. Tony Harrison—on Saturday, July 11, peaked with nearly 1.2 million viewers according to Nielsen. The main event (10:15-11 p.m. ET) delivered an average of nearly one million viewers. The two-hour telecast (9-11 p.m.), the most-watched boxing telecast across any ESPN network in 2015, was seen by an average of  nearly 800,000 viewers—up 110% from 2015’s Friday Night Fights telecasts, which averaged 381,000 viewers…

…The Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games opened with a bang on July 10 with a Cirque du Soleil-produced extravaganza, and almost 5.5 million Canadians tuned in to at least one minute of CBC’s coverage of the show on CBC-TV. Overall, more than 10.6 million Canadians – or 30 per cent of the population – have watched at least some part of CBC/Radio-Canada’s Pan Am Games coverage as of then. A combined average audience of 1.93 million viewers (2+) watched Friday’s Opening Ceremony on CBC-TV and CBC News Network. The audience peaked at 2.338 million viewers at 9:07pm on CBC-TV as Team Canada made its way into the stadium during the parade of nations.

New Canadians made up 20% of the audience for CBC’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony. Pan Am Afternoon with host Andi Petrillo on CBC-TV averaged 630,000 viewers (2+) across Saturday and Sunday’s broadcasts.

On the digital side, CBC’s Pan Am website (cbc.ca/panam) has generated nearly 4 million page views across the desktop and mobile versions and the CBC Sports App since July 10. Over that same period, cbc.ca/panam has generated almost 1 million visits across the desktop, mobile, and app. More than 465,000 video views have been generated through the desktop and mobile sites and the app. Day 2 (Sunday, July 12) was the busiest day so far for cbc.ca/panam with nearly 1.8 million page views…

…Golf Channel’s coverage has posted a record setting week leading into The Open Championship, with Golf Central Live From St. Andrews drawing the highest-rated total days ever to start The Open Championship week: Monday registered a 102 HH Rtg (up 62% YOY), Tuesday registered .110 HH Rtg, (+83% YOY), and Wednesday .156 HH Rtg, (+54% YOY).

Monday highlights include the most-watched Monday “Live From The Open Championship” on record (169,000 average viewers, +86% YOY), most-watched Induction Ceremony on Golf Channel (156,000 average viewers, +39% vs. 2013 Induction Ceremony in primetime), and ost-watched Golf Fix premiere since April 2014 following The Masters (129,000 average viewers, +36% vs. last week). The next day, Golf Central Live From St. Andrews (1-6 p.m. ET) earned the most-watched Tuesday “Live From The Open Championship” on record (151,000 average viewers, +125% YOY). Golf Channel earned the second-Highest Wednesday Total Day This Year, after Masters Week Wednesday 2015. Golf Central Live From St. Andrews (7-9 p.m. ET): was most-watched Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday “Live From The Open Championship” on record (232,000 average viewers, +63% YOY. On Wedneady,  Golf Central Live From St. Andrews (1:30-3 p.m. ET) drew 130,000 average viewers…

…Mets games on SNY have averaged 2.24% of homes, which is up 22% compared with this time last year. That figure, as well as the average viewership of 199,578, are the best for SNY since 2012. And the network’s pregame and postgame Mets shows are up 35% and 65%, respectively, compared with last season.

Meanwhile, at YES, the Yankees are averaging 2.55% of homes, down 14% from this time last year. But after a slow start in April and May the figures have been trending upward. Four of YES’ eight top-rated Yankees games have come in the past month, during which its average rating is up 12% over the first 21/2 months. (Newsday)…

…FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP TODAY – THIRD STAR SPECIAL, an impromptu celebration honoring the U.S. Women’s National Team’s first FIFA Women’s World Cup championship since 1999, was the most-watched non-live event weekday afternoon telecast in FOX Sports 1 history with 402,00 viewers. The live one-hour program aired Monday, July 6, at 1:00 PM ET, just 15 hours after the USWNT claimed its record third FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy…

…NBA TV’s coverage of Samsung NBA Summer League 2015 is off to a record-setting pace, including last week’s Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves telecast (Friday, July 10) delivering an average of 277,000 total viewers to rank as the network’ s most-viewed NBA Summer League game of all time.   Overall, NBA TV’s live NBA Summer League coverage to date (July 4-12) is up 14% among total viewers when compared with the same time period last year, with double-digit increases across all key demos (+22% in People 18-49, +26% in Men 18-49 and +63% in Men 18-34). For July-to-date, NBA TV’s primetime and total audience are up 31% and 16%, respectively, over 2014, with this past week generating a 30% increase in primetime and a 23% gain in total day viewership.  This past week also garnered significant spikes across all key demos in both telecast windows (primetime +32% in People 18-49, +37% in Men 18-49 and +60% in Men 18-34; total day +27% in People 18-49, +26% in Men 18-49 and +53% in Men 18-34)…

…Time Warner Cable SportsNet reported its highest-rated summer league game in the team’s opener against Minnesota on July 10 at Thomas & MAck Center with a 1.45 Nielsen rating. The Lakers boasted similarly inspiring numbers for their game against Philadelphia on Saturday (1.23) and against New York on Monday (1.29) (Inside Local)…

… Univision Deportes’ coverage of the USA/Haiti Gold Cup matchup on July 10 averaged 1.3 million Total Viewers 2+ and 713,000 Adults 18-49 for its channels. Through 6 days and 12 matches of the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, Univision Deportes is averaging 1.5 million Total Viewers 2+ and 883,000 Adults 18-49 per match, out-delivering coverage from 2013 41% among Total Viewers 2+ and by 48% among Adults 18-49. (Cynopsis Sports)