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Final Ratings: British Open Lower On ESPN; Record Numbers For NBA Summer League

ESPN finished with a 2.3 final rating and 3.3 million viewers for the final round of the British Open on Sunday, down from a 3.1 rating and 4.4 million viewers last year. Sunday’s telecast saw Rory McIlroy enter with a six-shot lead en route to a two-shot victory over Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia. Phil Mickelson last year came from behind on Sunday for the win. Tiger Woods also was well out of contention this year, while he finished tied for sixth in '13.

BRITISH OPEN FINAL-ROUND AUDIENCE TREND
YEAR
COURSE
NET
RATING
VIEWERS (000)
WINNER
TIGER
'14
Royal Liverpool
ESPN
2.3
3,299
Rory McIlroy
69th
'13
Muirfield
ESPN
3.1
4,372
Phil Mickelson
t-6th
'12
Royal Lytham
ESPN
3.1
4,227
Ernie Els
t-3rd
'11
Royal St. George's
ESPN
2.3
3,246
Darren Clarke
DNP
'10
St. Andrews
ESPN
2.1
2,966
Louis Oosthuizen
t-23rd
'09
Turnberry
ABC
3.8
5,545
Stewart Cink
MC
'08
Royal Birkdale
ABC
3.3
4,640
Padraig Harrington
DNP
'07
Carnoustie
ABC
3.7
5,147
Padraig Harrington
t-12th
'06
Royal Liverpool
ABC
4.6
6,364
Tiger Woods
1st
'05
St. Andrews
ABC
4.6
6,002
Tiger Woods
1st
 
   

SUMMER CAMP: On top of setting attendance records, the Samsung NBA Summer League in Las Vegas set new audience records on NBA TV. The games averaged 116,000 viewers, up 28% from ’13. The cable net delivered six of its top 10 most-viewed Summer League games on record, led by Bucks-Cavaliers on opening night. The matchup, featuring the first game for Bucks F Jabari Parker and Cavaliers F Andrew Wiggins, drew 220,000 viewers, marking the net’s second-best Summer League telecast ever. NBA TV’s primetime viewership during the Summer League jumped 29% compared to the same period in ’13. NBA Digital (mobile+web) also saw an 80% increase in unique visits during the Summer League, while video views were up 70%. The NBA Summer League subscription package set a new record in ’14 and was up 73% from last year.

AWARD SEASON: The ESPYs averaged 2.21 million viewers on ESPN this year, marking the flagship net’s lowest mark for the awards show since ’11. This year’s event also was simulcast on ESPN2, drawing 354,000 viewers. Last year’s telecast on ESPN drew 2.27 million viewers....Nickelodeon averaged 2.32 million viewers for the inaugural Kids’ Choice Sports Awards on July 17 from 8:00-9:30pm ET.

NOTES: NBCSN drew 484,000 viewers for the second race in the Toronto Grand Prix doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, marking the net’s best Verizon IndyCar Series telecast in nearly three years. The first race of the Toronto GP was rained out on Saturday and run on Sunday morning, airing on CNBC....On top of new overall viewership records set by Univision during the FIFA World Cup, the net also saw strong growth among females. Univision saw viewership among adult females climb 39% compared to ’10. Female viewership also was up 34% in N.Y. and up 31% in Dallas-Ft. Worth....ESPN drew 1.03 million viewers for live coverage of the NHRA Mello Yello Series on Sunday afternoon, marking the drag racing series' best telecast for ’14 to date. The previous high was 673,000 viewers on ESPN2 on April 27. Most NHRA telecasts on ESPN/ESPN2 are shown on same-day tape delay. Sunday’s telecast had a lead-in from the British Open and an abbreviated “SportsCenter.”

The charts below list final ratings from recent sports telecasts. Figures for ABC were not available at presstime.

TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
MLB All-Star Game
7/15
Fox
8:13-11:33pm
7.0
11,338
"The Open Championship Today"
7/20
ABC
3:00-6:00pm
1.2
1,741
"The Open Championship Today"
7/19
ABC
3:00-6:00pm
1.1
1,412
"World of X Games: 20 Years, 20 Firsts"
7/19
ABC
2:00-3:00pm
0.6
876
Golf: American Century Championship
7/20
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
0.6
865
Liga MX: Chivas de Guadalajara-Chiapas
7/20
UniMas
5:51-8:00pm
0.4
797
Liga MX: Leon-Club America
7/19
Telemundo
9:00-11:26pm
0.4
769
Golf: American Century Championship
7/19
NBC
3:00-6:00pm
0.6
762
Liga MX: Cruz Azul-Pachuca
7/19
Univision
5:55-8:00pm
0.4
664
Global Rallycross
7/20
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.5
663
Tour de France: Stage 14
7/19
NBC
2:00-3:00pm
0.3
471
Dew Tour: Best of Ocean City
7/20
NBC
1:00-2:00pm
0.3
382
"UFC's Road to the Octagon"
7/19
Fox
5:00-6:00pm
0.2
359
TELECAST
DATE
NET
TIME (ET)
RAT.
VIEWERS
(000)
MLB Home Run Derby*
7/14
ESPN
9:03-11:59pm
3.4
5,402
British Open: Final Round
7/20
ESPN
8:00am-2:04pm
2.3
3,299
MLB: Dodgers-Cardinals
7/20
ESPN
8:00-11:36pm
1.5
2,322
"The ESPYs"
7/16
ESPN
9:00-11:42pm
1.4
2,205
British Open: Third Round**
7/19
ESPN
6:00-11:09am
1.2
1,558
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
EnjoyIllinois.com 300 (Chicagoland)
7/19
ESPN2
8:30-11:06pm
0.9
1,483
British Open: Second Round
7/18
ESPN
7:03am-3:00pm
1.1
1,436
British Open: Third Round (extended coverage)**
7/19
ESPN
11:09am-12:33pm
0.9
1,272
British Open: First Round
7/17
ESPN
7:00am-3:00pm
0.9
1,157
NHRA Mello Yello Series: Mopar Mile High Nationals
7/20
ESPN
2:30-6:31pm
0.7
1,031
 

NOTE: * = Delayed by an hour due to rain. ** = Third round of British Open started earlier than normal to avoid inclement weather.

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