CBS' final national Nielsen rating for Sunday's final-
round coverage of The Masters was a 10.0/22, down 1% from
last year's 10.1/22, marking the tournament's fourth-highest
final-round rating since '91, and fifth-highest since '82.
The final rating for Saturday's third-round was a 5.9/15, up
18% from last year's 5.0/15 (THE DAILY). In Boston, Howard
Manly writes that Vijay Singh's victory at The Masters
generated the "highest golf rating of the year so far."
Manly: "Those television numbers, while great, were nowhere
near what Tiger Woods would have produced had he hit crucial
putts during Sunday's final round and taken the lead." CBS
Sports VP Rob Correa: "It was still the highest-rated
golfing event this year. We still were in pretty good
shape. We're not complaining." Manly calls CBS' numbers
for The Masters good, "especially" compared with other
weekend sports programming (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/11).
WHO COMPARED THE TWO? In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reviews
CBS' coverage of The Masters and writes that lead analyst
Ken Venturi "remains an avuncular presence, better suited to
reminiscing than to the task of lead analyst from the 18th
hole. Any comparison of Venturi to NBC's Johnny Miller is
specious. Analysis requires regularly saying something
surprising or unusual, or offering opinions on plays or
putts before they happen" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/11).
