FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 17th, 2015

BEST YEAR EVER! NBCSN WILL POST BEST TOTAL DAY & PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP IN NETWORK’S HISTORY IN 2015

NASCAR, NHL, Premier League, IndyCar & F1 Telecasts Help NBCSN Set Record for Total Day Audience – Up 6% from Sochi Olympics-Fueled 2014

 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wednesday Night Rivalry & NASCAR Lead NBCSN to Primetime Viewership Mark — Up 24% From 2014

NBCSN Posts Its Most-Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, IndyCar and Formula One Seasons, and Premier League’s Best Season Ever on Cable

NASCAR Sprint Cup Races Post 4 Most-Watched, Non-Olympic Telecasts in NBCSN’s History; 7 of Network’s Top 10 Shows Came in ‘15

STAMFORD, Conn. — December 16, 2015 – With New Year’s Day approaching, NBCSN is on pace for its best year ever in 2015, according to live plus same day data released by The Nielsen Company.

NBCSN is averaging 151,000 viewers through the first 50 weeks of the year and will finish 2015 with its best-ever Total Day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.) viewership – topping by 6% the prior record set last year (143,000) which included 16 days of live Sochi Winter Olympics coverage. In addition, NBCSN is on pace for its best-ever year in Primetime (8 p.m.-11 p.m.) averaging 366,000 viewers – up 24% from last year (296,000). Among Adults 18-49, NBCSN is averaging 148,000 viewers – the best viewership figure for the network in the demo since 2009, and a 6% increase over last year (140,000).

The following milestones led to NBCSN’s record-setting 2015:

  • Debut of NASCAR on NBCSN
  • Most-Watched NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on NBCSN
  • Most-Watched Premier League season on NBCSN
  • Most-Watched IndyCar season on NBCSN
  • Most-Watched Formula One season on NBCSN
  • Debut of Notre Dame Football on NBCSN

NASCAR made a solid NBCSN debut as the property returned to NBC Sports Group in the first season of a 10-year partnership. NASCAR Sprint Cup races posted the network’s four most-watched, non-Olympic telecasts ever (chart below) and led a calendar year highlighted by seven of the network’s top 10 all-time, non-Olympic shows.

NBCSN’s Most-Watched, Non-Olympic Telecasts

Date Program Viewers
July 26, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: Indianapolis 4.70 million
August 16, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: Michigan 4.29 million
August 2, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: Pocono 4.26 million
October 25, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: Talladega 4.24 million
June 1, 2014 NHL Conf. Final (LA-Chi, Game 7) 4.14 million
June 17, 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final (Chi-Bos, Game 3) 4.00 million
August 9, 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup: Watkins Glen 3.98 million
June 15, 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final (Chi-Bos, Game 2) 3.96 million
June 10, 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final (TB-Chi, Game 4) 3.91 million
June 8, 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final (TB-Chi, Game 3) 3.90 million

2015 NBCSN VIEWERSHIP SUMMARY

  • NBCSN is averaging 151,000 Total Day viewers to-date in 2015 (Dec. 29, 2014-Dec. 13, 2015) – which will rank as the most-watched calendar year in the network’s history. NBCSN’s Total Day viewership tops by 6% the network’s previous-record of 143,000 viewers, which was set last year and included 16 days of live Sochi Winter Olympics coverage.
  • NBCSN is averaging 366,000 Primetime viewers – the best year ever in primetime for the network and up 24% from last year (296,000).
  • In the key primetime demographic, NBCSN is averaging 148,000 viewers among Adults 18-49 – the best viewership figure for the network in the demo since 2009, and a 6% increase over last year (140,000).

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2015:

NASCAR

  • From the return of live NASCAR racing to NBC Sports Group over July 4th weekend through the end of the Sprint Cup Playoffs (Nov. 22), NBCSN averaged 183,000 Total Day viewers, up 120% from the same period last year (83,000) and marking the best Total Day increase for any cable network in the five-month stretch (June 29-Nov. 29).
  • NBCSN’s July 26 telecast of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the network’s most-watched telecast ever, averaging 4.7 million viewers. Later in the season, NBCSN presented its first-ever telecasts of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Playoffs.

NHL

  • NBCSN televised 54 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games, averaging 1.231 million viewers – the best NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs ever for the network topping the prior mark set last year (1.227 million).
  • NBCSN’s signature Wednesday Night Rivalry series is averaging 577,000 viewers in calendar 2015 – up 4% from the WNR series in 2014 (554,000).

Premier League

  • After consecutive record-setting seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15, NBCSN is averaging 439,000 viewers this season — up 3% from last year at this time. In addition, including matches on USA Network (most telecast simultaneous to the 10 a.m. ET game on NBCSN), the Premier League is enjoying its best-ever season on U.S. cable television, averaging 483,000 viewers per match window, up 16% from last year at this time.
  • NBCSN’s April 12 telecast of Manchester United’s 4-2 victory over Manchester City averaged 1.1 million viewers to rank as the most-watched Premier League match in U.S. cable television history. NBCSN has televised 9 of the 10 most-watched Premier League games ever on U.S. cable.

Notre Dame Football

  • NBCSN televised its first-ever Notre Dame Football game on Nov. 21 (a 19-16 Fighting Irish victory over Boston College at Fenway Park), which averaged 2.0 million viewers to rank as the network’s most-watched college football game ever.

IndyCar

  • NBCSN’s presentation of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series averaged 507,000 viewers, making it the most-watched IndyCar season on NBCSN since IndyCar rights were acquired in 2009. Viewership for the network’s IndyCar coverage (11 races) was up 34% from the 2014 season (378,000, 12 races), and up 26% vs. the previous record (402,000 in 2011).
  • The Aug. 30 IndyCar season finale at Sonoma averaged 841,000 viewers to become the most-watched IndyCar race on NBCSN since rights were acquired in 2009, and the most-watched IndyCar race on cable in seven years (2008 at Richmond). The final six races of the season on NBCSN eclipsed 500,000 viewers, more than the past six seasons on NBCSN combined (five).

Formula One

  • NBCSN averaged 418,000 viewers for its live coverage of 13 races in 2015, up 9% vs. 2014 (385,000), to rank as the best F1 season for a single cable network since 1995. (NOTE: Due to the global nature of F1, many races begin prior to 8 a.m. ET.)
  • An NBCSN-record five 2015 races averaged more than 500,000 viewers (Bahrain, Spain, Austria, Belgium and Singapore), highlighted by 630,000 viewers for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 19, which was the most-watched non-domestic F1 race on cable in eight years (2007 Brazilian Grand Prix).

Tour de France

  • NBCSN posted the best viewership for its live morning Tour de France telecasts since 2010 (the last year Lance Armstrong rode in the race), averaging 365,000 viewers – up 27% from last year (288,000).

Among the events highlighting NBCSN’s 2016 schedule: The 2016 Rio Olympic Games in August; NHL All-Star Game on January 31; Premier League soccer; NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs; including two NHL Stanley Cup Final games; NASCAR beginning July 1; U.S. Olympic Trials; horse racing leading up to NBC’s exclusive Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup coverage; IndyCar and Formula One racing; the Tour de France; Premier Boxing Champions; and World Series of Fighting.

For more information about NBC Sports Group shows and properties, including press releases, photos, talent and executive bios and headshots, please visit NBCSportsGroupPressBox.com (http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com)

–NBC SPORTS GROUP–