NO HOLDS BARRED

Here are the Nielsen Ratings for all six sessions of the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships. Note that neither prime time telecast on Friday or Saturday on ESPN made the top 100 cable shows among adults 18-49 for the whole day. I assume ESPN will soon release the numbers for the ESPN3 webcast.

These numbers are not terrible, but appear to be flat and stagnant. Friday's semis did about the same as a repeat of the Berto-Lopez boxing on Spike, a weaker network than ESPN. Friday's numbers on ESPN are also about the same as ESPN gets for a regular weekly telecast of Friday Night Fights, which is being cancelled in May.

UFC, which claims to support wrestling, once again ran a show in direct competition with the NCAA finals. Their UFC Fight Night on Fox Sports 1, also a weaker network than ESPN, started at 10 PM EDT, right as the last several matches were taking place, including Logan Stieber's fourth straight title win. Their show averaged 617,000 viewers, a little less than the NCAAs, but got a 0.3 adults 18-49 rating because it ran later than the NCAAs.

Here are the numbers from the Sports TV Ratings site (http://sportstvratings.com), with some info added from TV By the Numbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com):

2015 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships TV Ratings

Thursday, March 19, 2015
Program Net Episode Start End Viewers (000) 18-49 Rtg

Session 1 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L ESPNU 2015 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

12:00 PM 3:52 PM 60 0.0

Session 2 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L ESPNU 2015 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS

7:00 PM 10:57 PM 109 0.0

http://sportstvratings.com/harvard-north-carolina-ohio-state-vcu-wofford-arkansas-lead-cable-sports-nets-for-thursday-march-19-2015/1824/

Friday, March 20, 2015
Program Net Episode Start End Viewers (000) 18-49 Rtg

Session 3 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L-03/20/2015 ESPNU 2015 NCAA WRESTLING

CHAMPIONSHIPS 11:00 AM 2:26 PM 123 0.1

Session 4 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L-03/20/2015 ESPN NCAA WRSTLNG CHAMPIONSHIP

8:00 PM 11:07 PM 451 0.2

(Did not make top 100 cable shows among adults 18-49 for the whole day.)

http://sportstvratings.com/coastal-carolina-wisconsin-valpo-maryland-davidson-iowa-lead-cable-sports-tv-ratings-for-friday-march-20-2015/1836/

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Session 5 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L ESNU Sat 11:00A-02:12P 184

Session 6 -- COLLEGE WRESTLING L ESPN Sat 08:00P-11:13P 694

(Did not make top 100 cable shows among adults 18-49 for the whole day.)

http://sportstvratings.com/butler-notre-dame-arkansas-north-carolina-nc-state-villanova-lead-cable-sports-nets-for-saturday-march-21-2015/1845/

Labels: 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, college, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, No Holds Barred, ratings, TV

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with our long-time colleague and wrestling correspondent, Bob Mayeri.

In our discussion, we previewed the 2015 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships.

The 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships run from Thursday, March 19, through Saturday, March 21, in St. Louis's Scottrade Center, and in the U.S., powerhouse telecaster ESPN is slated to show all the action. The finals Saturday night, along with the often epic semifinals Friday night, will both be shown live in prime time on ESPN. The other four sessions will be shown live on their college sports-oriented network, ESPNU.

In addition, all the action will be available live online on ESPN3, which will offer a multi-mat, simultaneous viewing format showing up to four different mats at one time. And both the TV and ESPN3 content will be available on their WatchESPN app.

Here is the TV schedule, with all times EDT:

2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship Television Schedule

Date Time Session Network

Thursday, March 19
Noon - 3:30 p.m. 1st Round ESPNU & ESPN3
7 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. 2nd Round ESPNU & ESPN3

Friday, March 20
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Quarterfinals ESPNU & ESPN3
8 p.m. - 11 p.m. Semifinals ESPN & ESPN3

Saturday, March 21
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Medal Round ESPNU & ESPN3
8:00 p.m. - 11 p.m. Championship Finals ESPN & ESPN3

For more information on ESPN's TV and online coverage, go here.

We spoke with Bob Mayeri by phone Tuesday.

"I think the team race seems to have piqued everybody's curiosity, because when I look at it I see at least five teams that have a possibility of winning this whole thing, although three of them seem to have the main focus," he said.

"Iowa, Ohio State, Missouri -- those are the main three, with considerations got to be given to Minnesota and Cornell also in the team race."

With team points being earned both in the regular tournament matches and the wrestlebacks, "It will have everybody waiting to see how it turns out," he said.

We also discussed the favorites for winners in each of the ten weight classes, the quest by Ohio State's Logan Stieber to win his fourth straight NCAA title, what team victories by upstart teams like Missouri or Ohio State would mean for college wrestling, and much more.

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Labels: 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, Bob Mayeri, college, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, Iowa, Missouri, No Holds Barred, Ohio State