Weekend Update: PGA Tour Broadcast TV Ratings Down To Start '09

Through nine live weekend telecasts this season (five events), the PGA Tour on NBC and CBS is averaging a 1.7 rating (2.5 million viewers), down 32.0% from a 2.5 rating (3.5 million viewers) through 10 telecasts last year. Saturday events to date are averaging a 1.4 rating (-36.4%), while final round telecasts on Sundays are averaging a 2.1 rating (-27.6%), excluding this year's final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which was canceled due to rain. CBS has aired seven rounds of PGA Tour golf to date, all without Tiger Woods. The net is averaging a 1.7 rating, which is down 29.2% from a 2.4 rating for eight telecasts last year. NBC's first two telecasts for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship were off from last year after Woods failed to make it to weekend play. The only telecast that has seen gains thus far has been the final round of the Northern Trust Open on CBS, with ratings and viewership jumping double digits for that tournament. The chart below details ratings and viewership for PGA Tour golf weekend telecasts on broadcast TV, with comparisons to '08 (THE DAILY).

NOTES: (a) = Woods won the event in '08, but did not participate this year. (b) = Woods was eliminated in the second round of this year's event. He won the event in '08.