ESPN kicked off 2023 in grand style, topping both the primetime and the total-day charts.
The sports network, led by its New Year’s Eve College Football Playoff semifinals doubleheader coverage, averaged 7.7 million viewers in primetime during the week of December 26 to January 1, according to Nielsen. ESPN’s December 31 Georgia-Ohio State Peach Bowl telecast drew more than 22 million viewers, while its TCU-Michigan Fiesta Bowl telecast averaged more than 21 million viewers, said Nielsen.
Fox News Channel finished second in primetime with 1.3 million viewers, followed by Paramount Network’s 1.1 million viewers, Hallmark Channel’s 1 million viewers and HGTV’s 832,000 watchers.
MSNBC was sixth with 831,000 viewers, followed by TBS and TLC (tied with 737,000 viewers), INSP (696,000) and CNN (688,000).
ESPN averaged 2.9 million viewers on a total day basis to top all networks, ending Fox News’s winning streak at 51 weeks. The news network finished second with 1 million viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (662,000 viewers), MSNBC (632,000) and CNN (558,000), Nielsen reported. ■
