Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls showed resilience on the court and in the hometown TV ratings with an eventful two hours of “The Last Dance” on Sunday night.
The first run of Episodes 7 and 8 of the 10-part, five-week series on ESPN and ESPN2 averaged a combined 11.6 household rating in the Chicago area, per Nielsen estimates.
That translates to 11.6% of the market, or close to 377,750 homes, up marginally from a week earlier, when Episodes 5 and 6 averaged an 11.4 household rating in the Chicago area. That difference represents roughly 6,500 homes.
Nationwide, Episodes 7 and 8 averaged 5.1 million viewers. Through the first eight episodes, “The Last Dance” has averaged 5.6 million viewers. First-run audience figures peaked nationally in Week 1, with the first two episodes averaging 6.1 million viewers. Those figures do not account for streaming, video on demand, DVR viewing and through repeats.
Household ratings in the Bulls’ home market reached an apex in Week 2, averaging a combined 12.6 rating, or about 410,310 homes, up from Week 1’s 12.2.
CBS’ “60 Minutes,” with a 7.3 average household rating, was Sunday’s next most-watched program in the Chicago area.
The slight local increase for “The Last Dance” came despite a week-to-week decline for the first hour, which on Sunday included Jordan’s baseball sojourn, his return to basketball and Scottie Pippen’s 1.8-second fit of playoff pique.
Episode 7 averaged a 11.9 household rating in the 8 p.m. Central hour (a 10.0 on ESPN and 1.9 for the bowdlerized version simulcast on ESPN2). Episode 5, which included the 1992 Olympic Dream Team and Jordan’s relationship with Kobe Bryant, averaged a 12.1 in the same time slot.
But Episode 8 — with Jordan playing mind games with himself, belting teammate Steve Kerr, making “Space Jam” and winning his first title since his father’s murder — yielded a combined 11.3 household rating (9.5 on ESPN, 1.8 on ESPN2).
That outdrew Episode 6’s focus on Jordan’s gambling, which averaged a 10.7 household rating in Chicago during last week’s 9 p.m. hour.
The series is set to conclude Sunday with Episodes 9 and 10.