Sports
USA Network Delivers Viewership Milestones as Cable Home of NBC Sports
Sports
USA Network Delivers Viewership Milestones as Cable Home of NBC Sports
Aug 30, 2022
Stamford, CT
USA Network has delivered numerous viewership milestones since expanding its slate of premium sports properties and events this year across the Premier League, NASCAR, the Olympic Games, USGA and The R&A Golf Championships, horse racing, cycling, track & field and more.
Since becoming the new cable network home for NBC Sports programming on Jan. 1, 2022, USA Network has grown sports event audiences alongside its fan-favorite entertainment content including last year’s top scripted cable launch “Chucky” and unscripted hits like “Miz and Mrs.”
Sports have experienced sustained viewership increases across the board as part of our strategy transitioning key programming to USA Network. We look forward to continuing that upward trajectory into the fall season.
Below are viewership highlights for NBC Sports programming on USA Network:
Premier League
- Two of the four most-watched Premier League matches on cable on record: Manchester City-Liverpool on April 10, 2022, with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) average of 1.15 million viewers (#2 most watched cable Premier League match on record) and Chelsea-Liverpool on Jan. 2, 2022, with a TAD of 1.04 million viewers (#4 most watched).
- The opening match of the 2022-23 Premier League season between Crystal Palace-Arsenal posted a TAD of 526,000 viewers, making it NBC Sports’ most-watched weekday opener on record, and the second-most watched opener on record (Manchester United-Tottenham on NBCSN in 2015; 651,000 viewers TAD).
- Post-match coverage following Newcastle-Manchester City on Aug. 21, 2022, was NBC Sports’ most-watched Premier League post-game show on cable on record (582,000 viewers).
NASCAR
- The race at Watkins Glen on Aug. 21, 2022, marked the sixth consecutive USA Network Cup Series race to deliver year-over-year viewership gains.
- USA Network’s telecast from Atlanta on July 10, 2022, stands as the most-watched Cup Series race on cable (2.626 million TV-only viewers) since last year’s Darlington race (3.149 million on FS1, 5/9/21).
Beijing Olympics
- Featuring live coverage of every Winter Games sport, USA Network was the top destination for sports and entertainment programming on cable and along with Tokyo Olympics coverage last summer, delivered the network’s most-watched 15-day span (Feb. 5-19) span since September 2018.
- The Beijing Olympics averaged 1.4 million primetime viewers and 920,000 Total Day viewers – both the highest among all sports and entertainment cable networks during the Games.
Tokyo Olympics
- Highlighted by live coverage of track & field, men’s and women’s beach volleyball, indoor volleyball and softball, USA Network was the top destination for sports and entertainment programming on cable, ranking as the #1 sports and entertainment cable network in primetime over the course of the Games with an average of 1.6 million viewers.
- USA Network’s primetime viewership average was the best ever for any cable network during the Summer Olympics and featured cable’s three most-watched Summer Olympics nights ever.
Golf: U.S. Open & The Open Championship
- Round 2 of the 2022 U.S. Open averaged a TAD of 1.17 million viewers, resulting in USA Network’s best weekday afternoon viewership since January 2017 (excluding Holidays).
- Excluding the Olympics, the 150th Open Championship drove USA Network to its best week of viewership in more than two years (since May 2020).
- With a TAD of 1.38 million viewers, 2022 delivered the most-watched early rounds for the Open Championship ever for NBC Sports and most-watched overall since 2015 on ESPN. The Round 1 TAD of 1.35 million viewers was the largest audience for that round since 2013 on ESPN.
Tour de France
- USA Network posted the two most-watched weekday stages of the Tour de France in more than 10 years. With 554,000 viewers, the Friday July 15 telecast was the most-watched weekday stage since 2009. The competition the day prior (Thursday July 14) averaged 510,000 viewers which was the best weekday delivery since 2010.
Horse Racing
- 2022 Kentucky Derby programming on Friday and Saturday delivered its best cable performance since 2019.
- 559,000 viewers for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby undercard programming marked the second-best performance for the event in the last six years.
- Friday’s Kentucky Oaks coverage averaged 244,000 viewers, the best for the event since 2019.
Track & Field
- USA Network’s primetime coverage of the World Track & Field Championships Oregon22 on Friday July 22 averaged 783,000 TV-only viewers, NBC Sports’ second-most watched track & field cable telecast on record, excluding Olympics and U.S. Team Trials. It only trails the 2018 Indoor Championships, which had a Winter Olympics lead-in (1.306 million, NBCSN, Feb. 10).
