or


[02/02/22 - 02:07 PM]
ESPN's Best January in Seven Years in Prime, Leads Cable by Far
Getting out of the gate quickly in 2022, ESPN posted its strongest January in seven years in prime time, leading cable television in delivery of viewers (P2+) and in the key P18-49 demo, as well as for that demo in total day viewership, all by wide margins.
[via press release from ESPN]

ESPN's Best January in Seven Years in Prime, Leads Cable by Far

Studio Shows Shine as Fans Seek Best Analysis, Highlights and Discussion in Sports

College Football, NFL, Men's and Women's College Basketball, NBA, NHL and Australian Open Contribute to Strong Performance

Getting out of the gate quickly in 2022, ESPN posted its strongest January in seven years in prime time, leading cable television in delivery of viewers (P2+) and in the key P18-49 demo, as well as for that demo in total day viewership, all by wide margins. In addition, several weekday studio shows enjoyed their most-viewed month in up to five years. Of course, the year began 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 MNF Wildcard Playoff Game.

Against the Cable Competition

For ESPN in prime time, it was the most-viewed month in seven years, since January 2015, averaging 3.7M viewers (P2+) to top the cable television rankings, 67% more than second-place Fox News Channel. Among P18-49, ESPN averaged 1.3M viewers, its highest since December 2019, fully 365% ahead of second-place TNT.

With its best month among P18-49 since December 2019, ESPN led cable networks in total day, averaging 470K viewers, just more than triple the next best network, TBS. Among all viewers, ESPN ranked second with 1.3M viewers, its best month in exactly five years (since January 2017), just behind FNC's 1.4M.

Studio Show Success

Numerous ESPN studio shows garnered an audience in January unseen in up to five years or more. January was:

· NFL Live's best month since September 2016 (over five years).

· Around the Horn's best month since January 2017 (five years).

· This Just In's best month ever.

· First Take's best month since December 2019.

· The 12 - 1 p.m. ET SportsCenter's best month since December 2019. It was up 28% vs. last year and up 10% over 2020.

· The 1 a.m. SportsCenter's best month since December 2019. It was up 31% from last year and up 1% over 2020.

· The weekend morning SportsCenter editions' best month since January 2020.

· Pardon the Interruption's best month since January 2020.

· Get Up's second-most-viewed month ever (behind only November 2021).

Their success helped lead ESPN to an average of 1.1M viewers for 7 a.m. - 7 p.m., the network's best since January 2017 and the best of all cable networks in the P18-49 category, more than double No. 2-TBS. In total viewers, ESPN was second, behind only FNC.

Event Programming Contributes to Strength of ESPN's January

After the football season, for the rest of January other sports continued to make it a memorable month for ESPN. These included select strong audiences for Men's and Women's College Basketball, NBA, NHL and the Australian Open Men's Championship.

-30-





  [february 2022]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
  


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/02/25 - 02:38 PM]
Hallmark Channel Earns #1 Most-Watched Network on Weekends Throughout June with "Passport to Love" Programming Event
"Passport to Love" helped elevate Hallmark Channel to be the #1 most-watched network on weekends throughout the month of June.

[07/01/25 - 12:01 PM]
Top 10 Week of June 23: "Squid Game" Season 3 Takes Over with Record-Breaking Global Debut at No. 1
"The Waterfront" was a Top 10 hit once more as the No. 1 series on the English TV list (11.6 million views).

[07/01/25 - 10:26 AM]
ESPN Formula 1 Viewership Notes After Austrian Grand Prix
ESPN's live telecast on Sunday, June 29, averaged 1.1 million viewers, a two percent gain over last year's race and the largest audience ever for the event on U.S. television.
[07/01/25 - 09:16 AM]
ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" Featuring the Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers Averaged 2 Million Viewers - Up 66% from Last Year's Comparable Game
The audience peaked with 2,304,000 viewers in the 9:15 p.m. ET quarter hour.
[06/27/25 - 02:29 PM]
"Live with Kelly and Mark" Gears Up for Summer Rising Week to Week in All Key Measures
Wednesday, June 11, was the most-viewed day of the week among Total Viewers (2.164 million).
[06/27/25 - 10:31 AM]
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tops Late-Night in Adults 18-49 for Third Week in a Row
Winning three of five nights in Kimmel's final week before summer guest hosts, Thursday, June 19, was the show's strongest night among Adults 18-49 (0.35 rating).
[06/25/25 - 11:55 AM]
Prime Video Finishes Groundbreaking First Season of Exclusive NASCAR Coverage
According to Nielsen, NASCAR on Prime posted a season average of 2.16 million viewers (AMA P2+) across five events, and attracted droves of younger viewers to its live coverage.

[06/25/25 - 07:58 AM]
ABC News Primetime Special "Karen Read: The Verdict - A Special Edition of 20/20" Ranks #1 Across All of Broadcast and Cable in Adults 18-49
Plus: "Karen Read: The Verdict" placed No. 1 based on views among all titles on Hulu on Thursday (6/19), Friday (6/20) and Saturday (6/21).
[06/24/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Target Demos 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week, and Claims Top Spot in Total Viewers for the 5th Straight Week
On Monday (6/16/25), "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.112 million) in 5 months.
[06/24/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 16: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Leads Top 10 for Third Week, "The Waterfront" Swims to No. 1
Plus: "Ginny & Georgia" Season 3 racked up another 8.1 million views and felt peachy keen at No. 2, while Season 2 landed at No. 8 and Season 1 at No. 10, with an additional 2.7 million views each.
[06/24/25 - 08:42 AM]
Third Most-Watched WNBA Game Ever on ESPN: Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 52% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said coverage peaked at 2.2 million viewers.
[06/23/25 - 12:09 PM]
Indiana Pacers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Game 7 on ABC and ESPN+ Is Most-Watched NBA Finals Game in Six Years
The seven-game series averaged 10,266,000 viewers and delivered the seven most-watched broadcasts on all of television since the first week of May.

[06/18/25 - 09:01 AM]
Murder Mystery May Drives Acorn TV to the Most Successful Month In Its History
Total hours watched surpassed 20 million for the first time in Acorn TV history, with unique engaged subscribers also achieving an all-time high, up double digits from the streamer's average over the past 12 months.
[06/17/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
On Wednesday, "Nightline" scored its most-watched telecast (1.049 million) in 5 months and strongest delivery in Adults 25-54 (404,000) in 1 year.
[06/17/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 9: "Tyler Perry's Straw" Has Biggest Week for a Film in 2025
"Ginny & Georgia's" third season maintained its No. 1 spot on the English TV List with 16.9 million views, as fans saw their favorite characters pushed "to the limit."