Saturday Final Nationals: Pacquiao-Horn on ESPN is Cable’s Most-Viewed Boxing Telecast in 11 Years

The “Coke Zero 400” race of the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series from Daytona made NBC the dominant Saturday prime time network.

In late night for most of the U.S., ESPN’s live boxing telecast of the WBO World Welterweight Championship: Manny Pacquiao vs. Jeff Horn in the “Battle of Brisbane” from Australia generated a total audience delivery (television and streaming) of 3.1 million viewers across the ESPN and ESPN Deportes networks, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen.

Related: Boxing Analyst Teddy Atlas Provided Extra Entertainment During Pacquiao-Horn Fight

The bout peaked during its final half hour with 4.4 million viewers across both networks.

The ESPN TV-only telecast averaged a 1.6 household rating and 2.812 million viewers, making it the highest-rated and most-watched boxing telecast on cable TV since 2006. Carlos Baldomir vs. Arturo Gatti on HBO on July 22, 2006, earned a 1.6 household rating.

Pacquiao-Horn was also the highest-rated boxing telecast on ESPN’s networks since 1995. Danell Nicholson vs. Darren Hayden on ESPN, on Dec. 21, 1995 earned a 1.7 household rating.

Las Vegas was the telecast’s top local market with a 4.0 metered market rating, including a 5.1 rating during the main event. The top five markets also included Los Angeles (3.7), Raleigh-Durham (3.6), New Orleans (3.1), and San Diego (3.0).

(Sources: ESPN [1], [2])

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For the entire week of June 26-July 2, 2017 in Total Day (8 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.), Adult Swim is down -4 percent in viewership (0.801 million vs. 0.831 million) and down -1 percent among Adults 18-49 (482,000 vs. 487,000) from one week earlier; the network is also down -23 percent in viewership (0.801 million vs. 1.040 million) and down -17 percent among Adults 18-49 (482,000 vs. 581,000) from the same week one year ago (June 27-July 3, 2016). (https://programmingins.wpengine.com/?p=17918)

	PROGRAM		Viewers (000)	A1849 rating	A1849 (000)
8:00	Dragon Ball Super (r)		441	0.16	200
8:30	Samurai Jack (r)		332	0.12	159
9:00	Rick & Morty (r)		449	0.19	240
9:30	Rick & Morty (r)		603	0.26	333
10:00	Family Guy (r)		843	0.37	472
10:30	Family Guy (r)		1012	0.46	585

TOONAMI – SATURDAY, JULY 1, 2017

	PROGRAM	Viewers (000)	A1849 rating	A1849 (000)
11:00	Attack on Titan (r)	825	0.38	486
11:30	Attack on Titan (r)	716	0.33	429
12:00a	Attack on Titan (r)	664	0.32	406
12:30a	Attack on Titan (r)	590	0.26	332
1:00a	Attack on Titan (r)	488	0.20	259
1:30a	Attack on Titan (r)	457	0.19	242
2:00a	Attack on Titan (r)	467	0.20	260
2:30a	Attack on Titan (r)	460	0.20	255
3:00a	Attack on Titan (r)	465	0.22	279

	PROGRAM	Viewers (000)	A1849 rating	A1849 (000)
3:30a	Samurai Jack (r)	403	0.19	246
4:00a	Rick & Morty (r)	404	0.18	237
4:30a	Rick & Morty (r)	452	0.21	264
5:00a	King of the Hill (r)	471	0.20	252
5:30a	King of the Hill (r)	496	0.20	257

Source: Live+Same Day data, Nielsen Media Research