CBS earned a 9.4 fast-national Nielsen rating and 14.7 million viewers for the final round of The Masters on Sunday, up 18% and 9%, respectively, from the Easter Sunday finish last year. Both tournaments included a two-hole playoff -- Adam Scott defeating Angel Cabrera this year, Bubba Watson defeating Louis Oosthuizen last year. However, compared to ’11, Sunday's final round is down from a 9.5 rating and 15.3 million viewers. Saturday’s third round coverage on CBS earned a 5.8 fast-national rating and 8.5 million viewers, up 16% in both metrics compared to last year (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
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AUDIENCE TREND FOR SUNDAY AT THE MASTERS ON CBS
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|
YEAR
|
TIGER
|
RATING
|
VIEWERS
|
|
13*
|
4t
|
9.4
|
14,700
|
|
12*^
|
40t
|
8.0
|
13,500
|
|
'11
|
4t
|
9.5
|
15,257
|
|
'10
|
4t
|
10.7
|
16,676
|
|
09*^
|
6t
|
8.3
|
14,303
|
|
'08
|
2
|
8.6
|
13,148
|
|
07^
|
2t
|
9.1
|
14,941
|
|
'06
|
3t
|
8.4
|
12,361
|
|
05*
|
1
|
9.8
|
14,634
|
|
04^
|
22t
|
7.3
|
11,821
|
|
|
|
|
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CHART NOTES: * = Ended in playoff. ^ = Aired on Easter Sunday.
ON THE UP AND UP: In N.Y., Bob Raissman writes while there is “enough circumstantial evidence to fuel the conspiracy angle" that Masters officials decided against disqualifying Tiger Woods in order to "boost ratings ... it has absolutely no merit.” Anyone who “still is pushing it can thank” CBS analyst Nick Faldo “for keeping it alive.” Faldo’s “bizarre flip-flopping performance Saturday gave viewers every reason to believe a deal had been cut between the Masters and CBS to keep Woods playing.” But if tournament officials had “deemed that Woods should have been DQ’d it would have happened, even if it was detrimental to CBS’ business.” For anyone to “think that CBS, in order to keep Woods in the tournament, influenced the Masters decision in any way would fly in the face of a relationship totally controlled by club officials” (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/16).
