NBC earned a 9.0 overnight Nielsen rating for the race segment of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday from 6:00-7:00pm ET, which saw I’ll Have Another win the race. That figure is down 7% from a 9.7 overnight last year when Animal Kingdom won the race. The race has now generated over a 9.0 overnight rating for six straight years. For complete coverage from 5:00-7:00pm, NBC earned a 7.2 overnight, down 3% from last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes NBC's coverage of the Derby "will end up on the short list of the best sports television of the year." The net "expertly walks the fine line between making the show informative to avid horse racing fans, yet fun for the large majority who won't watch another horse race the rest of the year." It is "hard to make anything interesting for three hours, but NBC, led by incomparable host Bob Costas, did that by keeping the pace quick and offering fun and unexpected features" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 5/7). In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes NBC had a "good pre-race celebrity Derby picks spot." Gold Medal-winning skier Bode Miller picked Bodemeister to win, TV personality Joan Rivers picked Done Talking and actor Jack Black "staying in character ... chose the winner, I'll Have Another." However, it took NBC 17 minutes to post the race payoffs. Mushnick: "Was the delay due to a track issue or did NBC withhold the info to hold the audience?" (N.Y. POST, 5/7).
