NBC earned a 5.4 overnight Nielsen rating for the race segment of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday from 6:15-7:00pm ET, which saw Union Rags win the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. That figure is up 12.5% from a 4.8 rating last year and marks the best Belmont overnight for a race not featuring a Triple Crown contender since '05. Pre-race coverage from 4:30-5:00pm earned a 2.1 rating, while coverage from 5:00-6:15pm earned a 3.1 rating. For complete coverage from 4:30-7:00pm, NBC earned a 4.0 rating, up 17.6% from a 3.4 rating last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
| BELMONT STAKES OVERNIGHT RATINGS TREND |
| YEAR | NET | RATING | WINNER |
| '12 | NBC | 5.4 | Union Rags |
| '11 | NBC | 4.8 | Ruler On Ice |
| '10 | ABC | 3.1 | Drosselmeyer |
| '09 | ABC | 5.0 | Summer Bird |
| '08* | ABC | 9.5 | Da'Tara |
| '07 | ABC | 3.5 | Rags to Riches |
| '06 | ABC | 3.8 | Jazil |
| '05 | NBC | 6.0 | Afleet Alex |
| | | | |
NOTE: * = '08 Belmont Stakes featured Triple Crown contender Big Brown.
QUICK SWITCH: In Tampa, Tom Jones writes NBC had to “rebuild the Belmont coverage that was destroyed” when I’ll Have Another was scratched from the race. The network “tried to salvage some of that original show, and for the most part, it succeeded.” NBC had to “scrap Bob Costas' taped interview” with trainer Doug O'Neill but “replaced it with a live Costas interview with O'Neill and I'll Have Another owner Paul Reddam.” Jones writes Costas got in “some hard-hitting questions for O'Neill, and the interview was solid” (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 6/11). The GLOBE & MAIL’s Bruce Dowbiggin writes in a Belmont that was “fated to be unsatisfying with rumours swirling of other reasons for the horse’s scratch, NBC made the best of a bad hand.” Even for those who have worked in TV, it is “impressive to see NBC’s interviews seamlessly done on the fly with the trainers as they head from the paddock to the track.” As if it needed “any more dislocation, NBC had to improvise the winners’ circle to accommodate Union Rags' wheelchair-bound owner Phyllis Wyeth” (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/11). USA TODAY’s Michael Heistand writes if the Belmont trophy presentation seemed “a bit ad hoc … it’s because the site was moved.” But online speculation “that the move came to get away from a nearby animal rights protester was incorrect.” NBC Sports VP/Communications Adam Freifeld said, “It had nothing to do with any protests. The presentation site was moved to accommodate where Union Rags owner Phyllis Wyeth (who uses a wheelchair) wanted to go” (USA TODAY, 6/11).
ON-AIR EFFECT: NBC Sports officials said that I'll Have Another's absence from the race “had minimal effect" on ad sales, as most advertisers "had already purchased a season-long horse racing package as opposed to a single-event buy for the Belmont.” A network spokesperson said, “Only two units were sold (to two advertisers) subsequent to I'll Have Another's victory in the Preakness. All other inventory was already sold out. We will work with those two advertisers on a suitable solution to make them whole. The financial impact to us is minimal” (Richard Deitsch, SI.com, 6/10). In N.Y., Richard Sandomir wrote before he was scratched on Friday, I’ll Have Another “was NBC’s newest star.” A 60-second ad that ran on NBC Universal’s networks said, “A horse who no one believed in. A jockey who came out of nowhere. Together, beating the odds. Only a mile and a half from history. In the final leg of the Triple Crown, it’s heart that matters most. Unclaimed for 34 years. Will this be the year?” The ad -- meant “to evoke ‘Seabiscuit’ -- was pulled.” A new campaign “was to be substituted Friday night to promote NBC’s Saturday sports schedule” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/9).
