Sports Media Notebook — June 10, 2015

ShareTweet

Oh, bloody hell, it’s been a while since I’ve done a sports media notebook. We have quite a few things to provide so in lieu of me explaining why you haven’t seen one in months, let’s just get to the news, linkage and other stuff.

NEWS

A couple of things to lead with this morning. First, the Women’s World Cup on Fox/Fox Sports 1 has gotten off to a good start. The debut of the U.S. Women on Monday in Canada set a record for a Women’s World Cup group stage match on American television with over 3.3 million viewers breaking the previous record set in 199 which was also U.S. time zone friendly. Well, the 1999 Women’s World Cup on ESPN/ABC was in the U.S.

Anyway, here’s what Fox is telling us about the U.S.-Australia match on Monday:

• USA – Australia attracted 3.311 million viewers and is the most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup Group Stage match on record, beating the previous record of USA-Denmark (6/19/99), which drew 2.457 million (1991 data unavailable, according to Nielsen).
• The audience (3.311 million) more than tripled the first U.S. match in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup (1.074 million).
• The audience is the largest ever for a soccer match in the history of FOX Sports 1 (Previous record: 806,000 on 4/15/15 for the friendly between the U.S. Men’s National Team and Mexico).
• USA-Australia posted 118,000 unique streams on FOX Sports GO, making it the most-streamed authenticated event ever on the app, besting the previous mark set by 2014 World Series Game 7.
• Washington, D.C. led all metered markets with a 4.5 rating, followed by Baltimore (3.8), St. Louis (3.7), Hartford (3.6), San Diego (3.2), Seattle (3.1), Orlando (2.9), Sacramento (2.9), Kansas City (2.9) and Los Angeles (2.8).

Through the first eight matches of the FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2015™, program viewership is averaging 1.054 million vs. 598,000 in 2011, a +76% increase.

I can imagine Fox Sports executives in Vancouver and Los Angeles being quite happy over this early news.

Now to the NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 3 on NBCSN which did quite well for the network. Viewership for Tampa Bay-Chicago averaged just under 3.9 million viewers and is the 3rd most-watched SCF game on the network. And that’s a 35% increase from last year’s Game 3 between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers on NBCSN.

Here’s the NBCSN announcement:

LIGHTNING-BLACKHAWKS GAME 3 IS THIRD-MOST WATCHED STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME EVER ON NBCSN

Game 3 Averages 3.896 Million Viewers, Up 35% vs. 2014 Kings-Rangers Game 3 on NBCSN
Chicago (24.0) and Tampa Bay (13.2) Deliver Highest Ratings For Any Game on NBCSN in Respective Markets
NBCSN Is Top Cable Network Across All Key Demos in Primetime
Lightning-Blackhawks Game 3 Is Most-Streamed Authenticated NHL Game Ever on NBC Sports Live Extra

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 9, 2015 – NBCSN’s presentation of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, in which the Lightning defeated the Blackhawks by a score of 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead, averaged 3.896 million viewers, making it the third-most watched Stanley Cup Final game ever on NBCSN.

Viewership of Game 3 (8:03-11:06 p.m. ET), in which the Lightning came from behind to win with a pair of third-period goals, was up 35% compared to Game 3 of last year’s Stanley Cup Final between the Kings and Rangers (2.893 million), which the Kings won by a score of 3-0. The only Stanley Cup Final games on NBCSN to surpass last night’s viewership are Games 2 and 3 of the 2013 Final featuring the Blackhawks and Bruins.

The game peaked in the final full quarter-hour at 5.262 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET.

PRIMETIME

NBCSN ranked as the top cable network across all key demographics Monday night in primetime (8-11 p.m. ET). Overall, NBCSN ranked third among A18-49 and A25-54, behind only NBC and ABC.

LOCAL

Both Chicago and Tampa Bay drew their highest local ratings ever for a game featuring their respective teams on NBCSN. Chicago delivered a 24.0 rating, up 49% vs. the average rating in Chicago on NBCSN during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final (16.1). Tampa produced a 13.2 rating, surpassing its 11.9 rating from Game 7 of this year’s Eastern Conference Final against the Rangers.

NBCSN was the No. 1 network in both markets during the game.

Following are the Top 5 markets for Stanley Cup Final Game 3 on NBCSN:

Rank	Market	HH Rating
1	Chicago	24.0
2	Tampa	13.2
3	Buffalo	4.3
4	Boston	4.2
5	Providence	3.8

DIGITAL

Monday night’s Game 3 was the most-streamed authenticated NHL game ever on NBC Sports Live Extra, setting records in visits (219,000), uniques (189,000) and minutes watched (11.4 million). Digital engagement peaked in the 10 p.m. ET hour with 128,000 uniques.

LINKAGE

Patricia McClintock of the Hollywood Reporter writes that the FIFA-funded movie “United Passions” had a pitiful opening weekend not even making $1,000.

Jason Lynch of Adweek says CBS will kick off its fall schedule with the Thursday Night Football opener on September 17.

Brian Flood of Adweek reports that ESPN The Magazine will explore gaming in its next issue.

Advertising Age’s Anthony Crupi says the NBA Finals are on pace to set a ratings record.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch speaks with the long-time voice of the Fort Wayne (IN) Komets who inspired Mike Emrick.

Ed Sherman at the Indiana University National Sports Journalism Center says both the NBA and NHL are fortunate to have ratings draws this year.

Anna Clark of the Columbia Journalism Review says one big thing is missing from Women’s World Cup coverage.

Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch notes that Boston.com might be changing its focus from being a clickbait site.

This is behind the dreaded paywall, but I’ll link to it anyway. Ed Sherman writing for the Chicago Tribune has NBC Sports Group Chairman Mark Lazarus complaining about NHL playoff beards. That’s right. So stupid.

If you want to avoid the paywall, you can head to USA Today’s For the Win site and read about Lazarus’ idiotic statements.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that a Twin Cities sports radio station has dropped all live local shows in favor of CBS Sports Radio programming.

Scott D. Pierce at the Sake Lake Tribune writes that ESPN has called itself out for its reporting on U.S. Women’s Soccer team goalkeeper Hope Solo’s domestic violence issues.

ESPN LA says ESPN Radio in SoCal has renewed its rights deal with the Lakers.

Dan Levy of Awful Announcing has some thoughts on Fox’s Women’s World Cup coverage.

Marlow Stern of the Daily Beast talks with the always lovely Michelle Beadle.

NEWS YOU CAN USE

If your cable or satellite provider carries Universal Sports, then you’ll see coverage of the inaugural European Games, an Olympic-type competition that will include 20 sports including Boxing, cycling, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Track & Field, Triathlon, Wrestling and Volleyball.

The competition begins this Friday. Universal will air a total of 25 hours from Baku, Azerbaijan through June 28 and coverage will last for either an hour, 90 minutes or two hours. We have the schedule:

Universal Sports Network Broadcast Schedule: Baku 2015 European Games

All Times Eastern – Subject to Change

When Fox Sports 1 airs the International Friendly between the United States and Germany later this afternoon, John Strong and former U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel will call the match.

Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET today with the match a half-hour later. UniMás and Univision Deportes will simulcast the game in Spanish.

And that concludes your first sports media notebook in months.

ShareTweet