FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016

NBCSN POSTS BEST YEAR EVER – FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW

LED BY RIO OLYMPICS, NBCSN WILL POST ITS BEST-EVER TOTAL DAY & PRIMETIME VIEWERSHIP

Rio Olympics, NASCAR, NHL, Premier League, IndyCar & F1 Telecasts Help NBCSN Set Record for Total Day Audience – Up 16% From 2015

 Rio Olympics, NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wednesday Night Rivalry & NASCAR Lead NBCSN to Primetime Viewership Mark – Up 9% From 2015

NASCAR Sprint Cup Race from the Brickyard in July is Most-Watched Telecast in NBCSN History

NBCSN’s Adult 25-54 Viewership Also Sets Total Day & Primetime Records

STAMFORD, Conn. — December 14, 2016 – With New Year’s Day approaching, NBCSN for the third consecutive year is on pace for its best-ever year in 2016, according to live plus same day data released by The Nielsen Company.

Highlighted by 330 hours of live Rio Olympics coverage, NBCSN is averaging 171,000 viewers through the first 50 weeks of the year (Dec. 28, 2015-Dec. 11, 2016) and will finish 2016 with its best-ever Total Day (6 a.m.-6 a.m.) viewership – topping by 16% the prior record set last year (148,000). In addition, NBCSN is again on pace for its best-ever year in primetime (8 p.m.-11 p.m.) averaging 390,000 viewers – up 9% from last year’s record (358,000).

Among Adults 25-54, NBCSN is averaging 175,000 primetime viewers – the best viewership figure ever for the network in the demo – marking a 14% increase over last year (154,000) and topping by 5% the prior record (166,000 in 2009).

The following milestones led to NBCSN’s record-setting 2016:

  • NBCSN ranked as most-watched sports cable network in August (Total Day)
  • NBCSN ranked as #1 sports cable network in primetime over 14 days of live extended primetime Rio 2016 coverage
  • NASCAR Sprint Cup Indianapolis race on July 24 ranked as NBCSN’s most-watched telecast ever
  • Second-half of NBCSN’s most-watched full NHL regular-season ever (2015-16), followed by most-watched NHL Opening Night doubleheader ever (Oct. 12)
  • Most-Watched Formula One season ever on NBCSN, and best for a single cable network in 21 years
  • Most-Watched IndyCar race ever for NBC Sports Group (July 31)
  • Most-Watched Premier League opening weekend match on cable (Aug. 14)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2016:

RIO OLYMPICS

  • NBCSN ranked #1 among all sports cable networks in August in Total Day average viewership (509,000), Adult 25-54 viewership (214,000 viewers), and Adult 18-49 viewership (202,000 viewers).
  • NBCSN, the home of Team USA, was the #1 sports cable network in primetime over the 14 days it presented live extended primetime Rio 2016 coverage (7 p.m.-midnight ET) with an average of 1.32 million viewers from Sat., Aug. 6 – Fri., Aug. 19.

NASCAR

  • NBCSN’s July 24 presentation of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the network’s most-watched and highest-rated telecast on record, averaging 5.2 million viewers with a 3.1 household rating.
  • Seven of NBC Sports Group’s NASCAR Sprint Cup races (five on NBCSN) ranked as the top cable sports program of their respective weekends.

NHL

  • NBCSN televised 54 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games, averaging 1.1 million viewers – marking the fourth consecutive year that the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged more than one million viewers on the network.
  • NBCSN’s signature Wednesday Night Rivalry series – despite facing the final Presidential Debate and Game 7 of the historic World Series – is averaging 579,000 viewers in calendar 2016, matching last year’s viewership for the series.
  • NBCSN’s coverage of the season-opening NHL “Face-Off” on Oct. 12 produced the most-watched regular-season doubleheader in the network’s history. The opening night Wednesday Night Rivalry twin bill, featuring 2016 Stanley Cup Playoff rematches between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks, and the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, combined to average 696,000 viewers, up 3% percent vs. the previous record (679,000; 10/8/14; Flyers-Bruins and Sharks-Kings).

Premier League

  • NBCSN has televised 14 of the 15 most-watched Premier League matches ever on cable in the U.S. – including the Manchester United-Leicester City game on May 1. That match averaged 908,000 viewers and earned one point for Leicester City, which clinched their historic and unexpected Premier League title the next day.
  • NBCSN’s Arsenal-Liverpool match on Sunday, Aug. 14 averaged 745,000 viewers – marking the most-watched Premier League opening weekend match ever on U.S. cable television.

IndyCar

  • NBC Sports Group delivered a second consecutive season of record-setting IndyCar Series viewership in 2016, reaching more than 6.5 million total viewers, its highest season-total since acquiring IndyCar rights in 2009.
  • The July 31 IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio averaged 929,000 viewers (NBCSN + CNBC simulcast) to become cable’s most-watched IndyCar race since NBC Sports Group acquired rights in 2009.

Formula One

  • For the second consecutive season, NBCSN posted the best Formula One viewership by a single cable network in two decades. NBCSN averaged 429,000 viewers for its live coverage of 14 races in 2016, up 3% vs. 2015 (418,000), ranking 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 7:30 a.m. ET.)
  • NBCSN tied a network-record with five Grands Prix averaging more than 500,000 viewers (Bahrain, European, German, Belgian, Brazilian).

Tour de France

  • Live morning coverage of the 2016 Tour de France drew 297,000 average viewers, the second-best viewership since 2011.

Among the events highlighting NBCSN’s 2017 schedule: Premier League soccer; NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, including two NHL Stanley Cup Final games; NASCAR race coverage beginning June 30; Team USA Olympic Trials; horse racing leading up to NBC’s exclusive Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup coverage, as well as Royal Ascot; IndyCar and Formula One racing; the Tour de France; America’s Cup; Premiership Rugby; Notre Dame football and hockey; World Series of Fighting; and MECUM Auto Auctions.

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–