Per Nielsen data so far in 2016 (through May 16) ESPN’s SportsCenter is averaging 479,000 viewers across all telecasts (all times/days) and through a similar period last year (May 17, 1853 telecasts) SportsCenter averaged 509,000 viewers.
The 6pm Monday-Friday SportsCenter telecast (which I bring up only because FS1 is planning to launch a Cowherd-Whitlock 6pm competitor next month) is down 12% vs last year when it averaged 634,000 viewers through this point in the year. This year, it’s averaging 560,000 viewers.
Update: though I took a very macro level view, there are some bright spots. The year-to-date viewership average for the midnight SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt is up 6.9% versus the same point last year, 699,000 vs 654,000.
They’ve been using Stephen A Smith more for the 6pm Sportscenter. Anytime he appears, I grab the remote. So there’s my contribution to the ratings decline
It’s all celebrity gossip and politics now. No thanks, ESPN.
Like Mark Cuban said the NFL is reaching a saturation point as is sports in general.Whenever a sports network and league presuppose we are looking to them as a social barometer they are misguided and prove the point.
Espn agenda driven sports…..I peaced out on it about 2 yrs ago and am very happy without it…..
I want to see :30 sec highlights and box scores. I don’t want all the other fluff that has been added to the show. I miss Trey Wingo doing the 6p show.
I left NESN when they zapped Kurt Shilling and tried to destroy Patriots and Brady.. and they now seem to be in the business of dealing in social issues and “political correctness” in almost every thing they report on. If I want that stuff I can watch ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN etc. I have to admit that I still catch snippets of Mike & Mike. Kapernick has not helped either.
Lindsay is so horrible and cringe-worthy to watch, i have to turn the channel every single time i see her on…
Lindsay is horrible and cringe-worthy. Seems like she is yelling all the time and it’s terrible. I turn that channel off every single time I see her on.