OSC Weekly Ratings Wrapup
by David Carlson
Published on October 16, 2019 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
WNBA Playoff Ratings Review
While last year's WNBA Finals only went three games, it was able to top over 500k viewers twice. The top number of viewers for this year's finals came in at just short of that with 499k. Both season's Finals games were aired during the NFL season. According to SportsMediaWatch.com, this was the lowest-rated WNBA finals since 2013. The league's lone broadcast network airing of the Finals occurred on Sunday, placing it in direct competition with NFL football, drew fewer viewers than Tuesday's ESPN appearance.
2018 vs. 2019
| Game # | 2018 | 2019 | ||||
| 1 | Fri 9/7 9p | ESPN | .08/290k* | Sun 9/29 3p | ESPN | .07/234k |
| 2 | Sun 9/9 3p | ABC | .13/546k | Tue 10/1 8p | ESPN | .14/499k |
| 3 | Wed 9/12 8p | ESPN | .14/519k | Sun 10/6 3p | ABC | .07/425k |
| 4 | n/a | Tue 10/8 8p | ESPN2 | .08/312k | ||
| 5 | n/a | Thu 10/10 8p | ESPN2 | .12/440k |
*- First hour on ESPNews (.05/226k)
MLS Ratings on FOX Sports under the microscope
An article on WorldSoccerTalk.com went into the woes that MLS is having on FS1. Neither game on September 29 at the time was in the top 150 cable originals for the day, but this article provided the numbers: 79k and 84k in total viewers. The author misses the likely point, though, which is FS1 is just less of a network focal point for viewers than ESPN, or even ESPN2. That fact alone provides most of the reasoning when viewing ratings differences between FS1 and ESPN.
Last Week's OSC Leagues Ratings Summary:
| 10/8 | 8pm | ESPN2 | WNBA Finals Gm 4 | .08/312k |
| 10/10 | 8pm | ESPN2 | WNBA Finals Gm 5 | .12/440k |
| 10/11 | 7pm | ESPNews | CFL | Not in Top 150 |
Coming up this week with OSC league programming on TV:
| 10/18 | 7pm | ESPNews | CFL |
| 10/19 | 10pm | ESPNews | MLS |
| 10/20 | 3pm | FS1 | MLS |
| 10/20 | 8:30p | ESPN | MLS |
Follow OSC TV and ratings discussion at https://twitter.com/OsctvR.
NOTE: Don't know what the "demo" is? Unsure of why the different ratings numbers don't match up? Read our explanation of TV ratings in our first article here.
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from October 16, 2019
- October 17, 2019 Proclaimed "The Las Vegas Aces Day in the City of Las Vegas" - Las Vegas Aces
- New York Liberty Announce Head Coach Katie Smith's Contract Not Renewed - New York Liberty
- OSC Weekly Ratings Wrapup - OSC Original by David Carlson
- Las Vegas Aces Jackie Young Scores Game-High 9, But USAB Falls, 14-12, to Brazil in Quarterfinals - Las Vegas Aces
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
