Audience Analysis: NBCSN, Golf Channel See New Records In Q1

Q1 was kind to NBC Sports, as increased live coverage for the Winter Olympics helped NBCSN to its best quarter on record for total-day viewership, while Golf Channel rode Tiger Woods’ return to its best quarter yet. The Pyeongchang Games helped NBCSN average 302,000 viewers on a 24-hour basis in Q1, passing the prior record set in Q3 of ’16, which included the Rio Games (296,000). For comparison, without the Winter Olympics last year, NBCSN averaged 92,000 viewers in Q1. In primetime in Q1, NBCSN averaged 569,000 viewers, a Q1 record for the net. Meanwhile, Golf Channel averaged a record 133,000 total-day viewers for any quarter, fueled by a 41% increase for PGA Tour coverage. Over on ESPN, the net once again easily led cable sports nets in viewership for primetime and total-day, averaging 1.7 million and 762,000 viewers, respectively. But primetime was down 23%, while total-day was down 19%. ESPN also has led Q1 among all key male demos for at least 11 years running now. ESPN did see a rise in NBA viewership in Q1, but its heavy dose of college basketball was down. ESPN also had fewer college football bowls for Q1 this year. For FS1, Q1 was down 6% for total-day and down 4% in primetime.

The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.