Ratings: Super Bowl wrap, NFL Honors, Aussie Open and more

Last Sunday’s Super Bowl postgame show averaged 51.54 million viewers on CBS, down 10% from last year (57.04M), down 5% from 2019 (54.20M), and the lowest since at least 2007. The lead-out show, the series premiere of “The Equalizer,” averaged 20.40 million (-14%) — the least-watched post-Super Bowl premiere since “24: Legacy” on FOX in 2017 (17.6M).

On ESPN, the postgame edition of NFL Primetime averaged 1.56 million (-3%), the show’s smallest post-Super Bowl audience since at least 2009. SportsCenter followed at 1.05 million (-24%). NFL Network bucked the downward trend with an 8% bump for its NFL Gameday Final postgame (643K).

ESPN and NFL Network also went in opposite directions on pregame coverage. ESPN’s Postseason NFL Countdown fell 13% to 1.14 million while NFL Network scored a 2% bump for NFL Gameday Morning (518K). Pregame figures for CBS were not immediately available.

The annual NFL Honors averaged a 1.55 rating and 2.59 million viewers on CBS last Saturday, marking the lowest rating and viewership yet for the event (ten telecasts). The previous lows were set last year on FOX (1.7, 2.82M). Despite the lower numbers, the NFL Honors ranks as easily the most-watched sports awards show of the past year — well ahead of last month’s rescheduled Heisman Trophy Presentation (1.52M) and last year’s hiatus-era ESPYs (482K).

Airing directly opposite the Super Bowl, night one of tennis’ Australian Open averaged 171,000 viewers on ESPN last Sunday (includes a 40-minute ESPN2 simulcast) — up 122% from ESPN’s Super Bowl counter-programming last year (77K). Compared to the first night of last year’s Australian Open on ESPN2, which faced considerably lighter competition in mid-January, viewership fell 48% from 326,000.

NASCAR’s Duel at Daytona averaged 1.48 million viewers on FS1 Thursday night, down 4% from last year (1.54M) and its smallest audience in at least a decade. As was the case last year, the event faced rain delays. Wednesday’s Daytona 500 qualifiers averaged 890,000, well below last year’s Sunday afternoon window on “big FOX” (1.66M). … Sixers-Blazers averaged 1.13 million viewers and Heat-Rockets 1.07 million in Thursday’s NBA doubleheader on TNT; comparable figures last year were not available. On Wednesday night, ESPN pulled just 780,000 for Bucks-Suns (-46%) and 729,000 for Hawks-Mavericks (-17%). … Monday’s edition of Pardon the Interruption averaged 883,000 viewers on ESPN, the show’s most-watched episode since last February, but down 8% from last year’s post-Super Bowl edition (956K).