CINCINNATI, Sept. 19,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Average viewership for the
State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION in 2024 increased by
133% from 2023, and the network attracted 23.37 million unique
viewers across games and wrap shows. The male audience (ages 25-54)
grew 181%.
The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) and the Women's
National Basketball Association (WNBA) completed the second year of
a multi-year agreement to televise weekly double-headers in
primetime on Fridays during the regular season on ION, a national
sports and entertainment broadcast network that reaches every U.S.
TV household over-the-air and on all major pay TV and connected TV
services.
ION broadcast a WNBA-high 43 regular-season games and a
league-high 67 hours of WNBA regular-season content, and this year
added a studio show that aired before, in-between and sometimes
after games. Scripps Sports also unveiled a new studio designed and
built, in part, specifically for ION on WNBA studio shows.
Highlights of "WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION" Season
2*:
- WNBA games on ION averaged 670,000 P2+ viewers, a 133%
increase from 2023.
- Of the total reach of 23.37 million – up from 12.3 million last
year – 9.46 million viewers P2+ only watched games on
ION. (One-minute qualifier Live+SD; excludes repeat broadcasts
and ESPND)
- 7 telecasts exceeded an average of 1 million viewers,
topped by the Aug. 30 games between
the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, a national broadcast, and the
Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings, a
local broadcast, which together drew an average of 1.6 million and
peaked at 1.92 million.
- ION delivered the largest percentage of female audience of
any network airing WNBA games this season – 50% of the ION
P18-49 audience was female and 45% of the P2+ audience was
female.
- ION delivered more than 3.7 million hours of viewing
across the season, including via Roku, Samsung TV+, LG, Vizio,
Xumo, Plex, Amazon Fire Channels, Pluto, CW and Tablo.
- Scripps added more than 20 new
advertisers as ratings surged in the second year of WNBA
broadcasts on ION.
- The WNBA on ION social media saw strong year-over-year growth,
generating 100 million+ impressions on Instagram, X and
Facebook through collaborations with players, teams and the
league.
"This season was a big step forward for the WNBA and its
players in terms of exposure both in arenas and on television,"
said Brian Lawlor, Scripps Sports
president. "It was so fun to watch the momentum build throughout
the season. Scripps is thrilled to have
played a part in that."
"We are incredibly pleased with the success of our partnership
with Scripps Sports, which has played a pivotal role in amplifying
the reach and visibility of the WNBA season," said WNBA
Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
"Through this partnership, we've been able to showcase great
basketball with a broader audience, deepening the connection
between the league, the players and our growing fanbase while
delivering record-breaking viewership numbers."
*Sources for data: Nielsen L+SD national panel one-minute
qualifier for reach, average program performance 05/14/2024-09/13/2024; FAST – Roku, Samsung TV+,
LG, Vizio, Xumo, Plex, Amazon Fire Channels, Pluto, CW and
Tablo.
Media contacts: Scripps –
Michael Perry, (513) 259-4718,
michael.perry@scripps.com
WNBA contact: – Ron Howard,
(201) 293-1068, rhoward@nba.com
Scripps Sports serves professional and college sports
leagues, conferences and teams with local market depth and national
broadcast reach. Scripps Sports currently has partnerships
with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), the
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the National Hockey League's
(NHL) 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the 2023 Stanley
Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, the new Utah Hockey Club and the
NCAA's Big Sky Conference. Scripps Sports is a division of The E.W.
Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP), a Fortune 1000 American media
company.
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SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company