Over Past 12 Months, ESPN Programming Delivers Highest Prime Time Television Consumption Levels Since 2006, Best Total Day Since 2016; Engagement for Industry-Leading Digital Platform Expands
· Television Consumption Up 7% Year-Over-Year, 8% in Prime Time Plus Increases in Key 18-49 Demo
· ESPN+ Achieves Records Across Multiple Sports
· ESPN Digital Generated Nearly 112 Million Visitors a Month, ESPN YouTube Approached 50 Million Unique Visitors a Month
· ESPN Social Engagements 50% Higher than Nearest Competitor; Combined with ESPN Digital to Reach 66% of the United States Population Each Month
ESPN's Fiscal Year 24 (October 2023 - September 2024) experienced a nearly 20-year high (prime time) and a near-decade high (total day) for its main linear productions (ESPN and 'ESPN on ABC'), earning consumption levels not experienced since ESPN's fiscal years 2006 and 2016, respectively, based on public third-party data through the end of September.
During the past 12 months, sports fans consumed 533 billion minutes of ESPN programming (ESPN and 'ESPN on ABC') with 202 billion minutes coming in prime time. Across ESPN and 'ESPN on ABC," the total minutes was up 7% and 8% in prime time from ESPN's FY23 across the same programming.
Going back further, the total day consumption was up 10% from FY22 and 24% from FY21, a trend that continues each fiscal year dating back to 2016. In prime time, the 202 billion minutes was the best since 2006.
Individual quarter success drove the total minute jump, including double digit increases in Q2 and Q3.
Narrowing in on the key 18-49 demo, ESPN programming saw an uptick in total minutes consumed, approaching nearly 200 billion within the demo during the fiscal year.
Note: ESPN on ABC is defined as sports programming that aired on ABC. All historical comparisons contain ESPN and 'ESPN on ABC' content in each previous fiscal year.
Additional TV Success:
· ESPN maintained its historical position as the No. 1 sports network (average audience) and this year was No. 3 on cable, following two news networks.
· Across ESPN linear platforms, the company increased its already industry-leading share of sports viewership, finishing this year at 31% and nearly 10% better than its next closest competition.
ESPN+ Achieves Records Across Multiple Sports
ESPN+ achieved numerous successes across a variety of properties during the past 12 months. Among the platform's achievements:
· The most-watched day of college football ever (August 31).
· The most-viewed NHL game (Stanley Cup Final Game 7 in June).
· The most-watched college event, across all sports (UConn vs. Iowa - NCAA Women's Final Four).
· The most-watched women's college basketball regular season (November - March).
ESPN Digital and Social Add to Trend, 30+ Consecutive Months Leading Their Category
ESPN Digital remains a steadfast leader in the industry, continuing to grow its usage and top the competition. Among its highlights:
· Each month, ESPN Digital averaged nearly 112 million unique visitors, setting a new platform record. The average was up 3.2 million visitors (3%) from FY23, a record-setting year at the time.
· For 30 consecutive months (March 2022 - present), ESPN Digital has finished No. 1 amongst its competition, including in July and August (2024 Summer Olympics).
· Based on unique visitors, ESPN Digital bests its nearest competition by 54%.
ESPN Social Surpasses Competition by 50%
ESPN Social joins ESPN Digital as No. 1 in its field, as ESPN Social is currently on a 38-month streak of besting all competition (July 2021 - current). This fiscal year saw 8.5 billion social engagements, an astonishing 50% more than its nearest competition. ESPN Social's 8.5 billion social engagements is up 82% from FY21.
ESPN Digital and Social's Massive Reach
Contextualizing the massive reach of both ESPN Digital and ESPN Social, monthly the two entities combine to reach 66% of the United States adult population and 82% of adults in the key 18-49 demo.
Please note: ESPN Digital and ESPN Social metrics are October to August, both in FY24 and the year-over-year comparisons due to September metrics not available at press time.
ESPN YouTube Up an Impressive 21% Year-Over-Year, Nearly 300% in Three Years
ESPN's YouTube content averaged 48.5 million unique visitors a month. That increase is up 21% year-over-year and up a staggering 277% from FY21.
Television data provided by Nielsen. Digital and YouTube data based on ComScore, with Social data provided by ComScore/Shareablee. ESPN+ data is first party.
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