Viewership up 35% over August 2016
Post-Fight Analysis Live from Las Vegas Averages 1.338M Viewers
In August, First Take enjoyed a 35% increase in viewership over the previous year, averaging 404,000 viewers (P2+, Nielsen’s August: July 31 – August 25). The month ended with two days on location in Las Vegas to preview last weekend’s much-anticipated Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight.
In addition, First Take’s audience was more than three times that of Undisputed on FS1 – 404,000 vs. 129,000. The ESPN show’s advantage among men 18-34 was nearly quadruple, an average of 99,000 impressions vs. 25,000 for FS1.
First Take is aired daily on ESPN from 10 a.m. – noon ET and features debaters Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman, along with host Molly Qerim.
Fans Turn to ESPN for Post-Fight Analysis
After Saturday’s fight between Mayweather and McGregor, ESPN and FS1 both were on the air as of 1:30 a.m. ET to review the 10-round TKO that lifted Mayweather to 50-0 on his career. For the next hour, ESPN – with a team of analysts including Stephen A. Smith – averaged 1,338,000 viewers (P2+), nearly four times the audience for FS1 (357,000). Among men age 18-34, ESPN’s advantage was even greater, garnering closer to five times the impressions in the demo group, 273,000 compared to 60,000 for FS1.
ESPN’s Telecast between Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo was Second Most-Watched Fight on Cable in 2017
ESPN’s English and Spanish-language live telecast of the Saturday, August 19, “Unification” fight between Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo was seen by an average live audience of 1.3 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN Deportes combined during the main event, making it the second-most watched fight on cable this year.
Crawford, (32-0, 23 KOs) the 2014 Fighter of the Year, risked his WBO, World Boxing Council (WBC) and Ring magazine world titles against undefeated International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Association (WBA) world champion Julius Indongo (22-1, 11 KOs). Crawford, after knocking Indongo out in the third round, became the first undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world to hold all 4 four major titles.
Crawford vs Indongo main event averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN, making it the second-largest audience for boxing on cable in 2017 (behind ESPN’s Pacquiao/Horn main event which delivered 3.7 million viewers on ESPN).