Weekly Cable Ratings: NBA, NFL Help ESPN Finish October Strong

R. Thomas Umstead
·1 min read
San Antonio Spurs' French forward-center #01 Victor Wembanyama shoots the ball past Dallas Mavericks' US power forward #03 Grant Williams during the NBA basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on October 25, 2023.
San Antonio Spurs' French forward-center #01 Victor Wembanyama shoots the ball past Dallas Mavericks' US power forward #03 Grant Williams during the NBA basketball game between the Dallas Mavericks and the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on October 25, 2023.

NBA and NFL coverage helped ESPN finish first in primetime among all cable networks during the final week of October.

The sports network averaged 2.2 million viewers for the week of October 23 to October 29, topping second-place Fox News Channel, which averaged 2 million viewers for the week, according to Nielsen numbers supplied by Fox News.

ESPN was paced by its October 23 San Francisco 49ers-Minnesota Vikings Monday Night Football game, which drew 7 million viewers, as well as its October 25 NBA season-opening telecast featuring San Antonio Spurs No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama in his first pro game. That contest against the Dallas Mavericks drew nearly 3 million viewers.

TBS finished third with 1.65 million, followed by MSNBC with 1.2 million and Hallmark Channel with 1 million viewers. Rounding out the top 10 most-watched networks for the week were TNT (973,000 viewers), HGTV (780,000), CNN (762,000), FS1 (665,000), and TLC (611,000).

On a 24-hour basis, Fox News finished first for a fifth straight week with 1.4 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (907,000), ESPN (797,000), CNN (617,000) and Hallmark Channel (551,000), according to Nielsen.