That is for the 2.5 hour window. The actual game itself is likely higher although we don't have all the numbers.
Based on the recent trends, i will say the following.... The match-window will probably register around 135K-140K, and the game probably peaked at 150K-160k...
It's interesting that MLS ratings on ESPN/2 are basically the equivalent of replacement level players--- ESPN2 can draw 250k or so for pretty much anything. Other than maybe 3 AM replays of MAC football games on Thursday mornings, there is almost always decent audience watching ESPN/2...and MLS doesn't improve much on that (if at all). The ratings on NBCSN, however, have actually been above the replacement level threshold. 76k isn't a good rating by any measure....but it was apparently 5 times its lead-in. Probably the first time an MLS national broadcast has accomplished that.
As a point of reference. The highest viewed NHL game on NBCSN this season, since opening night, occured this weekend between Bruins and Rangers at 664k
http://puckthemedia.wordpress.com/2...draws-nbcs-second-best-numbers-of-the-season/ This link has every one of the Versus/NBCSN games for the season. Here's the ten lowest:
Ratings are okay. Should be higher though. Portland vs Union would get over 300K on ESPN2, but less than 150K on NBCSN. Seattle vs Houston I think has been the bigger disappointment. The other low ratings, I pretty much expected. Seattle vs Houston should have gotten at least 140K. I think an average of 130K would be a decent goal. An average below 100K would be very bad. Still trying to wrap my head around the NY vs Colorado game on ESPN. I had pretty low expectations for NY, but I guess it wasn't low enough.
Any information on GALAVISION ratings ? I miss the MLS GAMES on fox soccer channel why MLS did not kept the games on FSC is there any conflict on FOX vs NBC ?
What makes you so sure it was all on New York? Colorado isn't a big TV market; Houston v. Colorado was the second lowest rating on ESPN2 last year. What were the local ratings?
Yes, I think they could be showing up to 70 NHL playoff games if they follow a similar schedule to Versus.
The contract with Fox ran out. They wanted only one more English language partner and both Fox and NBC bid. MLS chose NBC in part because they felt NBC's package overall would give the league more exposure.
The two lowest NHL games should be thrown out as they are skewed artificially low because they don't have the NY market included.
Also, lets try this again at the end of the season. I'm sure there will be quite a few more duds for MLS due to lots of different conditions. Bad teams/ teams out of the playoff race/ teams with small TV markets playing each other/ bad time slots/ going up against other big sporting events etc... Also, to make it statistically fair, it would make more sense to choose fewer MLS games to compare to the NHL games since there so many more NHL games. Not sure how many NHL games they had on NBCS this year, but I'm sure someone could figure it out.
Yes. They vastly increased the number of games they showed this year. This issue with that, of course, was that many local stations already had exclusive rights for certain games. Even with many of those blackouts, you can plainly see that they're still outdrawing MLS games. The other thing to take from these NHL ratings - Outside the local blackouts, NHL ratings have doubled since they first went to Versus. It takes time to build viewership. The important thing for MLS going into the negotiations in 2013/2014 is improvement. If MLS is on track to double their ratings on NBCSN in 5 years, then that will drive up the price of the contract.
I think if you look historically at MLS ratings, that's pretty consistent. The west coast games don't suffer as much as in other sports from my recollection.
Other than the two lowest rated NHL games (blackout in selected cities), it seems reasonable to assume that some MLS games this year may outdraw the lowest rated NHL games. That's pretty good in the first season on NBCS.
French language Montreal based tv station RDS had an audience of 224 000 for the 1st Impact game, 192 000 for the second and 113 000 for the 3rd. Not too bad considering that probably 99% of that audience is within the province of Quebec. Would love to see the TSN ratings.
Sounds like it will be lower than 400k from this tweet ============= .@Arsenal - Manchester City (@MCFC) Sun on @FOXSoccer was No. 1 English- language match of week in US w/ 409K viewers.