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
|
