ESPN Wimbledon Numbers So-So

Written by: Staff on 10th July 2013

ESPN Wimbledon Numbers So-So

epa03772968 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina (L) returns to David Ferrer of Spain during their quarter-final match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 03 July 2013. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Even though no American male was a factor at Wimbledon and two big international stars in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were knocked out of the tournament early, Andy Murray’s win over Novak Djokovic helped ESPN grab a respectable, but not huge audience.

2013 Wimbledon provided two of ESPN’s biggest five audiences for tennis in its 33 plus years. However, the cable network only took over coverage of Wimbledon’s final weekend from NBC last year.

ESPN’s telecast of the men’s final drew a 1.7 rating, which represents an average of 1,894,000 homes and 2,456,000 viewers, the second largest audience in ESPN tennis history, behind only last year’s final when Federer bested Murray (2,876,000 households and 3,925,000 viewers). The rating for Sunday’s final peaked at a 2.8 for the final 30 minutes of the telecast. Last year’s four-set match between Roger Federer and Murray peaked at 4.1.

Another measure had the men’s final getting a 2.0 overnight, which was the second-lowest for coverage of the Wimbledon men’s final since at least 1996, ahead of only Rafael Nadal vs. Tomas Berdych in 2010 (1.9).

Somewhat surprisingly, Saturday’s telecast of the women’s final between two players who were not established stars in Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki– plus the men’s doubles finals with Americans Bob and Mike Bryan winning their 15th major – drew a 0.9 US rating. The average audience of 1,061,000 homes and 1,302,000 viewers is the fifth best in ESPN tennis history.

Another measure had it earning a 1.1 overnight — down 45% from coverage of the Serena Williams versus Agnieszka Radwanska last year (2.0), and down 39% from coverage of Maria Sharapova versus Petra Kvitova 2011 final on NBC in 2011 (1.8).

The 1.1 is said to be the lowest for coverage of the Wimbledon women’s final since at least 1994. The previous low was a 1.8.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Agnieszka Radwanska, Andy Murray, ESPN tennis news, Maria Sharapova, Novak Djokovic, Petra Kvitova, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Sports, Tomas Berdych, Wimbledon Championships