"Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reports that a Disney spokesman has said that the network may not include the numbers for Week 17 in its 2022 season average."
Although its weeknight evening news program regularly trails their ABC and NBC counterparts, the network led here with 4.22 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The network announced that due to large audience increases for the NBA, NCAA Softball, the PGA Championship and Formula One, it finished its strongest May in seven years.
"That number represents 58% growth from the 2021 Western Conference Finals. It is also up 17% from 2019, the last Conference Finals series played during the traditional window."
Borrell Associates projects that figure will climb considerably over the next four years as the industry undergoes what it describes as a "great reshuffling."