Ratings: NBA Opening Week, NHL “Frozen Frenzy,” racing

Following a stumble on Opening Night, the NBA has made a remarkable recovery and is off to its best start in six years.

Additionally, there was a solid sampling for ESPN’s NHL event, “Frozen Frenzy,” while the F1 USGP hit a three-year low.

NBA off to best start in six years

The NBA season’s first three nights garnered an average of 2.57 million viewers across TNT and ESPN, representing a 13% increase from last year and the highest three-night average since 2017. On Thursday, TNT attracted an average of 2.30 million viewers for the Suns-Lakers game and 2.04 million viewers for the Sixers-Bucks game, marking a 9% and 30% increase respectively compared to last year’s equivalent matchups (Clippers-Lakers: 2.10M; Bucks-Sixers: 1.57M).

Although viewership declined by 16% on Opening Night, the subsequent two nights saw an 80% and 18% increase respectively from last year.

All six games aired on ESPN and TNT this season have averaged at least two million viewers, setting a streak unmatched since the 2013-14 season.

Solid sampling for ESPN’s NHL “Frozen Frenzy”

The NHL’s “Frozen Frenzy” aired on Tuesday and averaged 432,000 viewers on ESPN (tripleheader) and 196,000 viewers on ESPN2 (whiparound coverage), compared to 562,000 viewers for a traditional doubleheader on ESPN alone last year. The combined viewer peak for ESPN and ESPN2 reached 918,000 viewers between 9:15-9:30 PM ET.

The top game of the tripleheader, Bruins-Blackhawks, achieved a 0.31 rating and 526,000 viewers. However, these figures represented a 24% decrease in ratings and 30% decrease in viewership compared to last year’s Avalanche-Rangers matchup (0.41, 750K). We should note that the game overlapped entirely with the ESPN2 whiparound show. The Flyers-Golden Knights nightcap also experienced a double-digit decline (-13%) with 278,000 viewers. Maple Leafs-Capitals kicked off the day with a 0.26 rating and 475,000 viewers, marking the largest cable audience for a game involving a Canadian team since 2017.

On TNT Wednesday, Capitals-Devils drew a rating of 0.25 and attracted 452,000 viewers. These figures represent an 11% and 18% decrease respectively from last year’s Rangers-Islanders game (0.28, 550).

F1 USGP hits low, tops NASCAR in younger demos

The Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, held last weekend, garnered an average of 1.17 million viewers on ABC. This figure reflects a 13% decrease from last year (1.34M) and marks the lowest viewership since 2019. It is important to note that Max Verstappen had already secured this year’s championship before the race took place.

Simultaneously, the NASCAR playoffs from Homestead-Miami received a 1.3 rating and 2.25 million viewers, representing a slight decline in ratings and 3% decrease in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.31M). These figures also indicate the smallest audience for the race since at least 2001. It is worth considering that Homestead was traditionally the final race of the season for many years.

The F1 race outperformed NASCAR in adults aged 18-49 (424K to 339K) and 18-34 (173K to 142K), while it closely trailed behind in the 25-54 age group (511K to 520K).

(Nielsen estimates from WBD PR, ESPN PR, this website 10.24, Sports TV Ratings 10.26, 10.27, Programming Insider 10.26)