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.
