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Final Ratings: U.S. Open Has Record-Low Audience For Kaymer's Runaway Win

NBC earned a 3.0 final rating and 4.6 million viewers for the final round of the U.S. Open last Sunday, which saw Martin Kaymer go wire-to-wire and win by eight strokes. That marks the lowest audience for the final round on record. The previous low for a final round at the U.S. Open was in ’11, when Rory McIlroy won by eight strokes. This year’s rating was down 33% from that ’11 round and viewership was 38% lower. With no drama or marquee players in contention on Sunday, the viewership for the final round was the same as ABC’s Sunday broadcast of France-Honduras from the FIFA World Cup. Sunday’s final round also was down 45% from last year, when Justin Rose held off Phil Mickelson and Jason Day. Meanwhile, ESPN finished with a 0.9 rating and 1.1 million viewers for second round coverage on Friday from 9:00am-3:00pm ET, down compared to similar coverage from Merion last year (1.3 rating, 1.7 million viewers). ESPN’s Thursday coverage drew a 0.9 rating and 1.1 million viewers as well, but there are no comparisons to last year as rain affected the cable net’s coverage.

U.S. OPEN FINAL ROUND AUDIENCE TREND ON NBC
YEAR
COURSE
RATING
VIEWERS (000)
WINNER
TIGER
'14
Pinehurst
3.0
4,600
Martin Kaymer
DNP
'13
Merion
5.4
8,400
Justin Rose
T32
'12*
Olympic (SF)
6.0
9,600
Webb Simpson
T21
'11
Congressional
4.5
7,369
Rory McIlroy
DNP
'10*
Pebble Beach
5.8
9,266
Graeme McDowell
T4
'09**
Bethpage
4.7
7,073
Lucas Glover
T6
'08*^
Torrey Pines
7.5
12,080
Tiger Woods
1
'07
Oakmont
6.4
9,547
Angel Cabrera
T2

       

CHART NOTES: * = Tournament held on West Coast with late primetime finish. ** = Final round began Sunday evening until play was suspended. Finished on Monday morning. ^ = Tournament finished on Monday with 18-hole playoff and one-hole sudden death.

WHAT’S UP DOC? Some one-off sports documentaries have recently aired. NBC averaged 800,000 viewers for “Payne” on June 8 from 5:00-6:00pm, which focused on the life of late golfer Payne Stewart. The film aired immediately after “Kurt Busch 36,” which drew 917,000 viewers for a 30-minute feature on the driver’s double duty at the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. “Payne” also premiered on Golf Channel the next night, drawing another 250,000 viewers from 10:00-11:00pm. Meanwhile, NBA TV drew 236,000 viewers for the premiere of “The ’84 Draft” on June 9 from 9:00-10:30pm.

The charts below list final ratings from recent sports telecasts.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat: Game 5
6/15
ABC
8:00-10:52pm
10.3
17,999
NBA Finals trophy presentation
6/15
ABC
10:52-11:17pm
9.9
17,019
NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat: Game 4
6/12
ABC
9:00-11:43pm
9.3
14,964
NBA Finals: Spurs-Heat: Game 3
6/10
ABC
9:00-11:55pm
9.0
14,775
NHL Stanley Cup Final: Kings-Rangers: Game 5
6/13
NBC
8:13pm-12:47am
3.7
6,021
Golf: U.S. Open: Final Round
6/15
NBC
12:00-7:45pm
3.0
4,600
FIFA World Cup: France-Honduras
6/15
ABC
3:00-5:04pm
2.7
4,597
"NBA Countdown"
6/15
ABC
7:31-8:00pm
2.4
4,221
FIFA World Cup: Switzerland-Ecuador
6/15
ABC
12:00-2:00pm
2.4
4,007
FIFA World Cup: Uruguay-Cost Rica
6/14
ABC
3:00-5:04pm
2.4
3,805
FIFA World Cup: Colombia-Greece
6/14
ABC
12:00-2:03pm
2.3
3,478
Golf: U.S. Open: Third Round
6/14
NBC
12:00-7:45pm
2.3
3,200
MLB: (regional)
6/14
Fox
7:12-11:08pm
1.4
2,210
"Inside: U.S. Soccer's March to Brazil"
6/14
ABC
5:04-5:34pm
1.4
2,110
"Inside: U.S. Soccer's March to Brazil"
6/14
ABC
5:34-6:00pm
1.1
1,678
TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
FIFA World Cup: Argentina-Bosnia & Herzegovina
6/15
ESPN
6:00-8:01pm
2.6
4,677
FIFA World Cup: Italy-England
6/14
ESPN
6:00-8:06pm
2.6
4,615
FIFA World Cup: Brazil-Croatia
6/12
ESPN
4:00-5:59pm
2.8
4,435
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Quicken Loans 500 (Michigan)
6/15
TNT
1:00-4:30pm
2.7
4,254
FIFA World Cup: Ivory Coast-Japan
6/14
ESPN
9:00-11:00pm
2.2
3,675
NHL Stanley Cup Final: Kings-Rangers: Game 4
6/11
NBCSN
8:09-11:03pm
2.0
3,383
FIFA World Cup: Netherlands-Spain
6/13
ESPN
3:00-5:00pm
2.0
3,103
NHL Stanley Cup Final: Kings-Rangers: Game 3
6/9
NBCSN
8:08-10:47pm
1.7
2,893
FIFA World Cup: Chile-Australia
6/13
ESPN2
6:00-8:00pm
1.7
2,779
FIFA World Cup: Mexico-Cameroon
6/13
ESPN2
12:00-2:03pm
1.4
2,123

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