U.S. Open Ratings, Viewership Trend Since NBC Acquired TV Rights
Golf's U.S. Open tees of tomorrow from the Bethpage Black Course outside of N.Y., marking NBC's 15th year televising the event. ESPN will air daytime coverage of the tournament on Thursday and Friday for the second consecutive year, with NBC airing live coverage on those days from 3:00-5:00pm ET. Last year's event, with weekend coverage aired in primetime on NBC from Torrey Pines outside of San Diego, was the most-viewed U.S. Open on the net since Woods' victory at Bethpage in '02. The chart below lists a ratings and viewership trend for the U.S. Open on NBC since the net acquired TV rights prior to the '95 event (THE DAILY).
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U.S. OPEN RATINGS, VIEWERSHIP TREND
SINCE NBC ACQUIRED RIGHTS
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|
YEAR
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TELECASTS
|
AVG. RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
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WINNER
|
|
'08*
|
5
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5.3
|
7,831
|
Tiger Woods
|
|
'07
|
4
|
4.5
|
6,493
|
Angel Cabrera
|
|
'06
|
4
|
3.5
|
5,000
|
Geoff Ogilvy
|
|
'05
|
4
|
4.2
|
5,823
|
Michael Campbell
|
|
'04
|
4
|
4.4
|
6,308
|
Retief Goosen
|
|
'03
|
4
|
4.2
|
5,716
|
Jim Furyk
|
|
'02
|
2
|
7.5
|
10,749
|
Tiger Woods
|
|
'01*
|
4
|
5.5
|
7,616
|
Retief Goosen
|
|
'00
|
4
|
6.0
|
8,235
|
Tiger Woods
|
|
'99
|
4
|
5.1
|
6,685
|
Payne Stewart
|
|
'98
|
4
|
4.6
|
5,905
|
Lee Janzen
|
|
'97
|
4
|
5.5
|
7,093
|
Ernie Els
|
|
'96
|
4
|
4.2
|
5,319
|
Steve Jones
|
|
'95
|
2
|
5.0
|
6,262
|
Corey Pavin
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NOTE: * = playoff
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