ESPN got off to a hot start in 2025, drawing its most-viewed Q1 since 2017, reports SBJ’s Austin Karp.
ESPN averaged 868,000 viewers on a total-day basis during the first three months of the year, up 22% from the same period in 2024 (also +15% among adults 18-49). It’s the best January-February-March figure since ESPN had a total-day audience of 937,000 viewers to start 2017 (and the first with full out-of-home measurement by Nielsen).
The network came out of the gate strong in January, with its best month since 2015 (a span of 120 months total). February was also ESPN’s best total-day audience since 2018, while March was the second-best since 2019.
“We carried strong momentum throughout the quarter, across signature events and our full content offering‚“ said Rosalyn Durant, ESPN’s EVP/programming and acquisitions. ”Experiencing multiyear high viewership and consumption growth reinforces, yet again, the strength of the ESPN brand and our content portfolio."
ESPN also averaged 2.3 million viewers in prime time in Q1, the network’s best figure since 2.36 in 2012, and up 35% from Q1 2024.
Some of the viewership highlights from ESPN in Q1:
