2007 Most-Viewed Year for ESPN2 & ESPNEWS

ESPN Finishes Strong with Most-Viewed Quarter & Month 209 Million People Watched ESPN Networks in 4th Quarter Monday Night Football Provides Year's Biggest Audiences

January 8, 2008 -- ESPN2 and ESPNEWS posted their most-viewed year in 2007 and ESPN finished strong, with the fourth quarter registering as its most-viewed quarter in history and December was its most-viewed month.

October through December was the second straight quarter in which a record number of Americans watched at least one of ESPN’s four most-distributed networks – 209 million people. That represents 73% of Americans and 91% of American cable television homes. The previous record, set in third quarter, was 201 million.

For only the second time, ESPN’s four measured U.S. television networks averaged more than one million viewers combined on a total-day basis. The four – ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS and ESPN Classic – averaged a combined 1,108,000 homes (last year: 1,126,000). ESPN’s Monday Night Football stood out, with nine of cable’s top 10 household audiences of the year (and 16 of the top 20), topped by the New England – Baltimore game December 3, cable’s biggest audience ever (12.5 million homes, 17.5 million viewers).

2007 HIGHLIGHTS

ESPN – 96.7 million households (Jan. 2008)

* Posted highs for the most-watched August, September, December (the most-viewed month ever), third quarter and fourth quarter (the most-viewed quarter ever).
* Monday Night Football – generated 16 of cable’s top 20 household audiences in 2007, topped by the New England – Baltimore game, cable’s biggest audience ever (12.5 million homes, 17.5 million viewers). The 17 NFL games included those ranked first, second, third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th in household delivery.
* SportsCenter – grew its audience to an average of 83.5 million viewers per month, peaking at 106 million in December.
* NASCAR – ESPN posts five of its biggest six household audiences for motorsports, including the top three. In just three months (August 27 – November 18), 127 million people (45% of Americans) watched NASCAR on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
* New highs for average audience for college football, College GameDay, Sunday NFL Countdown and the weekday pairing Around the Horn/Pardon the Interruption.
* Overall, the network posted its second-best year ever, behind only 2006 which was boosted by the tremendous debut of Monday Night Football, plus the World Baseball Challenge and FIFA World Cup, events that did not take place in 2007.
* ESPN had its best year ever among young men, setting a new mark for average viewership among men 18-34.

ESPN2 – 96.3 million

* ESPN2 enjoyed its most-watched year, averaging 272,000 households on a 24-hour basis.
* The network set a record for the month’s audience seven times, with September ranking as the best month ever, helping make third quarter its most-viewed quarter in history, followed by the network’s best fourth quarter in history.
* Season-long coverage of NASCAR’s Busch Series debuted as ESPN2’s highest-rated series ever, with three of its six biggest motorsports audiences ever, and the three all ranked in the network’s top nine for the year overall.
* ESPN2’s morning lineup – Mike & Mike at 6 a.m. followed by FirstTake at 10 a.m. – debuted in HD in May and for the year increased the audience 32%.
* Set records for average audience for Major League Baseball, college football, women’s college basketball and MLS.

ESPNEWS -- 63 million

* Set a new mark for 24-hour audience for the year, 63,000, up 27% over last year.
* Five times the network set a record as its best month ever (most recent: December).
* Each quarter set a record for that quarter, with second, then third, topping all quarters ever.

ESPN Classic – 62.8 million

* Post highs for audience in January, February, March and April, as well as its most-watched first quarter.
* The network posted a record rating for the September 15 Louisville – Kentucky live college football game. The game earned a 17.1 rating in Louisville, the market’s third-highest-rated ad-supported cable telecast of the year.

Source: ESPN

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