On 7th July, 2011 first hand of this year’s WSOP Main Event was shuffled up and dealt and from 14th July on, ESPN covered the event with a 30-minute delay. This was the first time ever anyone could follow the happenings of the Main Event almost real-time; previously, only summaries had been available on television.
According to ESPN’s own official release, their Main Event coverage proved to be a great success, at least on the basis of sheer viewer numbers; compared to the statistics from this time last year, these numbers doubled.
The biggest rise in numbers would typically occur in the early morning hours, but prime time also brought an increase of views: ESPN2 was on in 401,000 homes, meaning about 504,000 individual viewers and a rating of 0.4, while the show of 19th July on ESPN was watched in 543,000 homes by 646,000 individuals for a 0.5 rating. Late at night and later in the mornings, however, some decrease was observed, reaching 0.3 overall.
These numbers are all the more interesting as the channel aired online as well at ESPN3.com and many would follow the events there instead of the TV screen. The views of ESPN3.com have also doubled in comparison with last year’s statistics.
As far as the finale in November is concerned, predictions are optimistic, although it was followed in 2010 by less viewers then the year before. The reason behind this might have been that last year ESPN offered live stream coverage on the Main Event Final Table for the first time, so all those following it real-time were probably less likely to watch the summaries. Nevertheless, last year’s views were a disappointment for the company and they probably strive to make up for it this time.
WSOP Main Event Final Table views:
2010: 1.1 million homes
2009: 1.8 million homes
2008: 1.9 million homes
2007: 1.25 million homes
According to ESPN’s own official release, their Main Event coverage proved to be a great success, at least on the basis of sheer viewer numbers; compared to the statistics from this time last year, these numbers doubled.
The biggest rise in numbers would typically occur in the early morning hours, but prime time also brought an increase of views: ESPN2 was on in 401,000 homes, meaning about 504,000 individual viewers and a rating of 0.4, while the show of 19th July on ESPN was watched in 543,000 homes by 646,000 individuals for a 0.5 rating. Late at night and later in the mornings, however, some decrease was observed, reaching 0.3 overall.
These numbers are all the more interesting as the channel aired online as well at ESPN3.com and many would follow the events there instead of the TV screen. The views of ESPN3.com have also doubled in comparison with last year’s statistics.
As far as the finale in November is concerned, predictions are optimistic, although it was followed in 2010 by less viewers then the year before. The reason behind this might have been that last year ESPN offered live stream coverage on the Main Event Final Table for the first time, so all those following it real-time were probably less likely to watch the summaries. Nevertheless, last year’s views were a disappointment for the company and they probably strive to make up for it this time.
WSOP Main Event Final Table views:
2010: 1.1 million homes
2009: 1.8 million homes
2008: 1.9 million homes
2007: 1.25 million homes
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