The Future of Sports Viewership and Ratings

Episode 142 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Sports Media Watch founder and editor Jon Lewis and Sports Business Daily managing editor/digital Austin Karp. In this podcast, we discuss the three days of the NFL Draft averaging 6.1 million viewers and what that means; how the opening round’s 12.5 million average should be judged against the overall number; why Day 3 of the NFL Draft was down on viewership; analyzing NBC’s Kentucky Derby viewership numbers, which drew 14.5 million viewers for the race portion; what can be learned from the Derby in relation to upcoming jewel events; what Karp and Lewis’s expectations are for the NBA postseason and NHL postseason; whether the NBA Finals will be up over last year; the recent increase in NASCAR ratings; the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo and why both Lewis and Karp think the numbers will be down from 2016; what NBC can do to try to juice the Olympic viewership and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more.