A shift in channel lineup helped the Winter X Games see a 3% viewership uptick last week. The five windows across ESPN and ABC averaged 622,000 viewers, up from 605,000 last year. A key boost was moving the first linear TV window on Friday night from ESPN2 to ESPN. That window drew 441,00 viewers vs. just 83,000 on the Deuce last year (which had to compete with the NBA on big ESPN). The X Games from Aspen also did not have any Thursday telecasts for the second straight year. While below its high-mark average of 1.4 million in ’09, the Winter X Games is above its low mark of 461,000 in ’99. Reports also continue to swirl that a group led by Suns Vice Chair Jahm Najafi and former Padres Owner Jeff Moorad could buy the X Games property from ESPN.
| Winter X games audience trend |
| YEAR |
NETWORKS |
WINDOWS |
AVG. VIEWERS (000) |
| 2022 |
ESPN, ABC |
5 |
622 |
| 2021 |
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC |
5 |
605 |
| 2020 |
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNews |
7 |
493 |
| 2019 |
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC |
6 |
623 |
| 2018 |
ESPN, ESPN2, ABC |
6 |
851 |
The chart below lists viewership figures for select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE |
NET(S) |
TIME (ET) |
VIEWERS
(000) |
| AFC Divisional Playoff: Chiefs-Bills |
1/23 |
CBS |
6:41-10:02pm |
42,736 |
| NFC Divisional Playoff: Buccaneers-Rams |
1/23 |
NBC |
3:03-6:18pm |
39,880 |
| NFC Divisional Playoff: Packers-49ers |
1/22 |
Fox |
8:16-11:31pm |
36,923 |
| AFC Divisional Playoff: Titans-Bengals |
1/22 |
CBS |
4:33-7:31pm |
30,752 |
| NFC Wild Card: Rams-Cardinals |
1/17 |
ABC/ESPN/
ESPN2 |
8:14-11:29pm |
23,020 |
| "Fox NFL Pregame" |
1/22 |
Fox |
7:30-8:00pm |
13,691 |
| "The NFL Today" |
1/23 |
CBS |
6:00-6:30pm |
8,454 |
| "The NFL Today" |
1/22 |
CBS |
3:30-4:30pm |
6,981 |
| "Football Night in America" |
1/23 |
NBC |
2:00-3:00pm |
6,494 |
| College basketball: Kentucky-Auburn |
1/22 |
CBS |
1:00-3:30pm |
2,483 |
| "Postseason NFL Countdown" |
1/23 |
ESPN |
12:00-3:00pm |
1,933 |
| "Monday Night Countdown" |
1/17 |
ESPN |
6:00-8:00pm |
1,929 |
| NBA: Pacers-Warriors |
1/20 |
TNT |
10:00pm-1:03am |
1,515 |
| Figure Skating: European Championships: free skate |
1/23 |
NBC |
1:00-2:00pm |
1,465 |
| NBA: Suns-Mavericks |
1/20 |
TNT |
7:30-10:00pm |
1,419 |
| NBA: Bulls-Bucks |
1/21 |
ESPN |
8:14-10:47pm |
1,190 |
| College basketball: Duke-Florida State |
1/18 |
ESPN |
9:09-11:35pm |
1,121 |
| Liga MX: Atlas-Club America |
1/22 |
Univision/
TUDN |
10:02pm-12:14am |
1,117 |
| X Games Aspen |
1/23 |
ABC |
1:00-4:00pm |
1,083 |
| NBA: Hornets-Celtics |
1/19 |
ESPN |
7:43-10:05pm |
1,060 |
| College basketball: Syracuse-Duke |
1/22 |
ESPN |
12:00-2:04pm |
1,035 |
| Freestyle Skiing World Cup: Slopestyle |
1/23 |
NBC |
12:00-1:00pm |
1,033 |
| College basketball: Kansas-Oklahoma |
1/18 |
ESPN |
7:00-9:09pm |
986 |
| College basketball: Purdue-Indiana |
1/20 |
FS1 |
7:14-9:29pm |
954 |
| Premier League: Southampton-Manchester City |
1/22 |
NBC |
12:30-2:30pm |
945 |
| X Games Aspen |
1/22 |
ABC |
2:00-6:00pm |
921 |
| "NFL Championship Chase" |
1/22 |
Fox |
11:00am-12:00pm |
875 |
| "Inside NCAA Basketball" |
1/22 |
CBS |
12:30-1:00pm |
856 |
| College basketball: Villanova-Georgetown |
1/22 |
Fox |
12:00-2:00pm |
850 |
| Liga MX: Pachuca-Leon |
1/22 |
Univision/
TUDN |
7:55-10:02pm |
806 |
| College basketball: Michigan-Indiana |
1/23 |
CBS |
3:30-6:00pm |
788 |
| "UFC Live" |
1/22 |
ABC |
1:00-2:00pm |
633 |
| LPGA: Tournament of Champions: third round |
1/22 |
NBC |
3:00-5:00pm |
621 |
| Liga MX: Queretaro-Chivas |
1/22 |
Telemundo |
5:55-8:10pm |
597 |
| "Premier Boxing Champions Countdown" |
1/22 |
Fox |
2:00-3:00pm |
582 |
| Freestyle Skiing World Cup: Aerials |
1/22 |
NBC |
5:00-6:00pm |
485 |
| "Australian Open Highlights" |
1/23 |
ABC |
4:00-5:00pm |
443 |
