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ESPN Reports Largest Q1 Viewership Numbers Since 2017

A range of major sporting events – including January’s College Football Playoff, NFL Week 18 doubleheader, and inaugural Super Wild Card edition of Monday Night Football, provided a boost.

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The first quarter of 2022 is complete and for ESPN, it’s a time to celebrate as the network experienced a ratings increase during that time.

ESPN reported Thursday that total day viewership in Q1 was up 32 percent versus last year. That growth was the network’s best for the first three months of the year since 2017.

In primetime, viewership was up 40 percent. Its audience in the 18-49 demographic grew 36 percent and double that of the next closest competitor.

A range of major sporting events airing on ESPN fueled the big jump. January’s College Football Playoff, NFL Week 18 doubleheader, and the inaugural Super Wild Card edition of Monday Night Football, in addition to coverage of the first major of the year in tennis, The Australian Open, were just a few to name.

But ESPN reported growth in its regular coverage of the NBA and the return of the NHL. And after only two races, Formula 1 on ESPN has seen its two largest TV audiences for Grand Prix coverage since 1995.

From a programming perspective, ESPN said all live editions of SportsCenter are up. The most-watched edition of SC is at midnight with an average of 550,000 viewers.

Debate shows First Take and Get Up saw its largest audiences ever during Q1 for their shows on Monday, January 17. That was the Monday after the NFL Playoffs’ Super Wild Card Weekend.

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ESPN, PFL Agree to New Multi-Year Rights Deal

“We’ve had five successful seasons on ESPN and we’re excited for the next phase of growth for MMA and the Professional Fighters League with this agreement.”

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The new-look Professional Fighters League (PFL) won’t have to worry about its broadcast home. The combat sports league and ESPN recently agreed to a multi-year, multi-platform rights extension.

PFL’s new deal with ESPN includes live event distribution of the PFL regular season, playoffs, and world championships. ESPN+ PPV will also be home to PFL’s “Super Fight Division,” a new cross-discipline division that includes Francis Ngannou, Amanda Serrano, Clarissa Shields, Savannah Marshall, and Jake Paul, which was launched to “forge true economic partnerships with MMA’s top superstars to compete in global mega-events” according to PFL. The first PFL Super Fight PPV will take place sometime in early 2024.

“We’ve had five successful seasons on ESPN and we’re excited for the next phase of growth for MMA and the Professional Fighters League with this agreement,” said PFL CEO Peter Murray. “Our innovative sport-season format, elite roster of athletes, and the launch of the PFL PPV Super Fight Division, which will feature some of the world’s greatest combat sports stars such as Francis Ngannou and Jake Paul, are ushering in the new era of MMA as a mainstream global sports entertainment platform.”

This news comes hot off the heels of another PFL announcement — that the league acquired competitor Bellator from Paramount Global. The PFL roster now not only boasts top stars like Ngannou, Ante Delija, and Denis Goltsov, but also Bellator’s top stars like Ryan Bader, Cris Cyborg, Patricio Pitbull, and more.

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Scripps Sports Exec: Teams Are Making Contingency Deals For After Bally Sports Bankruptcy

Lawlor said that Scripps Sports “already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.”

Jordan Bondurant

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With the writing on the wall that Diamond Sports Group will drop its regional sports contracts after next year, entities like Scripps Sports are bracing for additional opportunities to work with various teams.

Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor recently said teams and leagues are already thinking ahead.

“There’s a lot of contingency planning by teams and leagues to have distribution options if the creditors pull the rug out early,” Lawlor told Cincinnati Business Courier. “It’s really messy right now.”

Lawlor added that Scripps has already been involved in contingency planning with those leagues and teams, with talks having gone on for months in some instances.

“(Scripps) already has deals in place with at least a couple of teams as a contingency in case Bally halts broadcasts before the end of the 2024 season.

Scripps Sports already stepped in to help provide a new TV home for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Lawlor said returns with those teams, particularly in Vegas, have been great.

“We’ve been blown away by the Golden Knights over-the-air ratings and the number of people who have subscribed to direct-to-consumer,” he said.

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Bob Iger: ESPN Could ‘Go It Alone’ and Not Take Financial Partners

“We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

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As Disney continues to consider selling an ownership stake in ESPN, Disney CEO Bob Iger told employees he’s not ruling out the possibility of not bringing in new financial partners.

Front Office Sports reported Wednesday that Iger spoke at a Disney town hall on Tuesday and there’s no requirement in place that says Disney must seek out new investors to maintain ESPN’s financial future.

“We could go it alone,” he said. “We are fully prepared to do that. It would be a little more challenging if we did.”

Disney has already had some level of conversations with potential partners including pro sports leagues and big tech companies.

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