Sports Fans Turn to News as Virus Wipes Out Games

On their first weekend without sports because of the coronavirus crisis, sports fans tuned to news, according to data from Inscape.

Over March 14 and 15, sports fans watched 40% more C-SPAN, 35% more CNN, 16% more CNBC, 16% more MSNBC and 7% more Fox News, compared to the previous weekend.

Sports fans also increased their viewing of Discovery Family by 39%, Travel Channel by 28% and Spanish-language Universo by 29%.

Related: COVID-19: The Story of a Lifetime

Overall linear viewers watched 10% more content overall and streaming viewers also watched more content.

The most binge watched show over the weekend according to Inscape is Law & Order: SVU. It is followed by Westworld, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Office and The Big Bang Theory.

Inscape gets its data from 14 million Vizio TVs. 

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.