Final Ratings: MLS On Pace For Best Season On ESPN; Strong First Year On NBCSN

MLS telecasts are averaging 345,000 viewers to date on ESPN/ESPN2, putting the league’s telecasts on the cable nets on pace for the best average since MLS was formed in ’96. The audience is up 12% from the same period last year and up 18% from ’10. The Timbers-Sounders match on June 24 on ESPN marked the league’s third-best regular-season cable audience ever, behind only the inaugural MLS match in ’96 (DC United-Clash) and a Revolution-DC United match from ’98. Meanwhile, NBC Sports Net is averaging 121,000 viewers to date for its first season of MLS telecasts (17 games), up 78% compared to same period last year, when the same package was on Fox Soccer. NBCSN is currently in 78.1 million homes compared to 41.4 million for Fox Soccer. NBCSN averaged 259,000 viewers for the Galaxy-Timbers match last Saturday, marking the net’s best MLS audience to date.

RIGGLE ME THIS: ESPN averaged a 1.5 U.S. rating and 2.4 million viewers for the ESPYs last week, up 15% and 22%, respectively, from a record-low 1.3 rating and 2.0 million viewers last year. The '12 figures, however, are still down from a 1.7 rating and 2.6 million viewers two years ago. Comedian Rob Riggle hosted the show for the first time in ’12 after “SNL” comedian Seth Meyers hosted in ’11 and ’10.

ESPYs AUDIENCE TREND ON ESPN YEAR RATING VIEWERS (000) '12 1.5 2,415 '11 1.3 1,984 '10 1.7 2,611 '09 1.5 2,271 '08 2.0 3,264 '07 1.8 2,779 '06 2.3 3,624 '05 2.1 3,274 '04 2.0 3,160 '03 1.4 2,194

: CBS finished with a 2.2 rating for the final round of the PGA Tour John Deere Classic last Sunday, which saw Zach Johnson win in a playoff. That figure marked the best rating for the event's final round since J.L. Lewis' win in '99....The U.S. men’s national basketball team’s first exhibition game against the Dominican Republic on July 12 averaged a 1.7 U.S. rating and 2.7 million viewers. The team’s second game against Brazil on ESPN2 on July 16 averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.1 million viewers. The Brazil game marked ESPN2’s second-best telecast this year to date among males 18-34, and also ranked as the net’s sixth-best rating of ’12….Tour de France telecasts are averaging 409,000 viewers across NBC/NBCSN through July 15. This year’s race marks the first time live telecasts have been shown on NBC, with the two windows thus far averaging over 1 million viewers each. Through the same period last year, NBCSN alone was averaging 317,000 viewers….Fuel TV averaged 211,000 viewers for the net’s fourth UFC fight card last Saturday, which featured Chris Weidman’s defeat of Mark Munoz. The telecast delivered Fuel TV its third-best total-day audience ever and second-best night of primetime.



The charts below list final Nielsen ratings from recent sports telecasts. All ratings listed are U.S. ratings.

TELECAST DATE NET TIME (ET) RAT. PGA Tour: John Deere Classic: Final Round 7/15 CBS 3:00-6:43pm 2.2 MLB: (regional) 7/14 Fox 4:00-7:45pm 1.8 PGA Tour: John Deere Classic: Third Round 7/14 CBS 3:00-6:05pm 1.2 Golf: U.S. Senior Open: Final Round 7/15 NBC 3:00-6:00pm 0.7 "ESPN Sports Saturday" 7/14 ABC 4:00-6:00pm 0.5 Red Bull Signature Series: Wake Open 7/14 NBC 1:00-3:00pm 0.5 Golf: U.S. Senior Open: Third Round 7/14 NBC 3:00-6:00pm 0.5 Ironman World Championships (taped) 7/15 NBC 1:30-3:00pm 0.5