ESPN’s Best First Quarter Viewership in Five Years, up 40% in Prime Time

Among Viewers 18-49, ESPN Tops all Cable Networks by Wide Margin 

Long List of Studio Shows with Surging Audiences, Every Live Edition of SportsCenter up 9-27% 

 

ESPN’s total day viewership in the first quarter of 2022 was up 32% vs. last year to an average of 812,000 viewers (P2+), the network’s best for the first three months of the year since 2017.  The increase was even more pronounced in prime time – up 40% to 2.068M viewers.  

In the target demo of adults 18-49, ESPN was up 23% in total day audience and led the second-place network by 74%.  In prime time, ESPN’s audience in the demo grew 36% and the advantage was more than double – up 111% – the next closest competitor.  

On the strength of the weekday studio show lineup, ESPN averaged 600,000 viewers from 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. ET, up 20% over 2021 and the best since 2017.  

Event Programming 

• ESPN’s 2022 got off to a hot start with strong performances from cable television’s annually most-watched three programs – the College Football Playoff Semifinals and Championship – and Monday Night Football including the inaugural Week 18 doubleheader and the first-ever NFL Wild Card Playoff Game on a Monday night.   
• In its first year, the NHL on ESPN averaged an audience 21% larger than last season’s Wednesday night games in the quarter.  
• The NBA on ESPN averaged 1.3M viewers, up 9% from a year ago.
• Men’s College Basketball increased its audience 26% vs. the previous season.  Champ Week was up 33% on ESPN/ESPN2. 
• The last home game for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski drew an average of 4M viewers and was the most-watched regular-season game on any network in three years. 
• Women’s College Basketball soared 45% over last year’s average audience. After two rounds, the NCAA Tournament audience is 15% larger than 2021. 
• The Bahrain Grand Prix on March 20 kicked off the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship season and was the most-watched (average of 1.353M) event of the series on cable since 1995 (Grand Prix of Brazil, 1.74M)…until it was topped a week later by the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (1.445M).  Both races aired on ESPN. 
• The Australian Open men’s championship was up 56% from the previous year and the most-viewed since 2017. 

Studio Programming 

• Every live edition of ESPN’s flagship program, SportsCenter, was up double digits vs. 2021 (except for the 1 a.m. show which was up 9%).  The biggest increases were the 11 p.m. show (up 27%) and the 6 p.m. show (up 20%).  The most-watched edition was the midnight program with an average of 550,000 viewers, up 12% from a year ago. 
• Weekday afternoon’s NBA Today averaged 311,000 viewers, up 32% from the time slot the previous season.  It reached a new all-time high point on Thursday, Feb. 10, with an average of 544,000 viewers. 
• NBA Countdown averaged 523,000 viewers, a 29% increase vs. 2021. 
• The weekday morning show First Take was up 23% for its best first quarter since 2018.  It set a show record for most-viewed show ever on Monday, Jan. 17, with an average of 918,000 people. 
• The weekday morning program Get Up enjoyed its best first quarter ever, up 15% from last year.  On Monday, Jan. 17, it garnered its biggest audience ever with an average of 658,000 viewers.
• Weekday afternoon’s NFL Live recorded its best first quarter since 2016, up 31% from 2021.  
• Around the Horn at 5 p.m. had its best first quarter since 2018, up 25% from a year ago. 
• In its 21st year, Pardon the Interruption at 5:30 p.m. was up 12% and is ESPN’s most popular weekday studio show, averaging 728,000 in the quarter.  

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