NBC drew 12.66 million viewers for Justify’s Triple Crown win last Saturday, marking the least-viewed Belmont Stakes with a Triple Crown on the line since ’02, when War Emblem missed out (12.41 million viewers). American Pharoah’s run at Belmont drew 18.6 million viewers in ’15, while California Chrome’s effort drew 20.6 million in ’14. Justify’s win also was well above ABC’s Triple Crown-fueled telecasts from ’97-99 (Silver Charm, Real Quiet and Charismatic, respectively). None of those three races cracked the 10 million viewer threshold.
|
BELMONT STAKES AUDIENCE TREND ON NBC
|
|
YEAR
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
WINNER
|
|
'18*
|
12,656
|
Justify
|
|
'17
|
4,923
|
Tapwrit
|
|
'16
|
5,830
|
Creator
|
|
'15*
|
18,600
|
American Pharoah
|
|
'14*
|
20,600
|
Tonalist
|
| NOTE: * = Race had horse seeking Triple Crown. |
MOLDING CLAY: Rafael Nadal’s win over Dominic Thiem at the French Open last Sunday morning averaged 1.62 million viewers on NBC, up 2% from Nadal’s win over Stan Wawrinka last year (1.58 million). Two years ago, NBC drew just under 2 million viewers for Novak Djokovic’s win over Andy Murray.
The chart below lists final audience figures from select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
| NBA Finals: Warriors-Cavaliers: Game 3 |
6/6
|
ABC
|
8:58-11:37pm
|
10.4
|
17,941
|
| NBA Finals: Warriors-Cavaliers: Game 4 |
6/8
|
ABC
|
8:58-11:33pm
|
9.3
|
16,242
|
| Belmont Stakes (race segment) |
6/9
|
NBC
|
6:22-7:13pm
|
7.5
|
12,656
|
| NBA Finals Trophy Presentation |
6/8
|
ABC
|
11:33pm-12:10am
|
7.0
|
12,212
|
NHL Stanley Cup Final:
Capitals-Golden Knights: Game 5 |
6/7
|
NBC
|
8:07-11:24pm
|
3.9
|
6,596
|
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series:
FireKeepers Casino 400 (Michigan) |
6/10
|
Fox
|
4:45-7:00pm
|
2.2
|
3,701
|
| MLB: (regional) |
6/9
|
Fox
|
7:13-10:27pm
|
1.6
|
2,757
|
| PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Classic: Final Round |
6/10
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.8
|
2,644
|
| MLB: Yankees-Mets |
6/10
|
ESPN
|
8:00-10:54pm
|
1.4
|
2,108
|
| PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Classic: Third Round |
6/9
|
CBS
|
3:00-6:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,639
|
French Open: Men's Final:
Rafael Nadal-Dominic Thiem |
6/10
|
NBC
|
9:00am-2:00pm
|
1.1
|
1,616
|
Women's College World Series:
Florida State-Washington: Game 1 |
6/5
|
ESPN
|
8:00-10:30pm
|
n/a
|
1,520
|
French Open: Women's Final:
Simona Halep-Sloane Stephens |
6/9
|
NBC
|
9:00am-1:00pm
|
1.0
|
1,449
|
Women's College World Series:
Florida State-Washington: Game 2 |
6/4
|
ESPN
|
7:00-9:41pm
|
n/a
|
1,233
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
6/6
|
ESPN
|
8:00-8:30pm
|
n/a
|
985
|
| F1: Heineken Canada Grand Prix |
6/10
|
ABC
|
1:30-4:00pm
|
0.6
|
908
|
| AVP: Kingston New York City Open |
6/10
|
NBC
|
4:30-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
891
|
| World's Strongest Man (taped) |
6/9
|
CBS
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.6
|
841
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
6/8
|
ESPN
|
8:00-8:30pm
|
n/a
|
808
|
| Track & Field: Diamond League (taped) |
6/10
|
NBC
|
3:00-4:30pm
|
0.6
|
767
|
| Track & Field: Diamond League (taped) |
6/9
|
NBC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.6
|
767
|
PGA Tour: FedEx St. Jude Classic:
Final Round (early) |
6/10
|
Golf Channel
|
1:00-2:45pm
|
0.5
|
766
|
| Soccer friendly: U.S.-France |
6/9
|
ESPN
|
2:55-5:03pm
|
0.5
|
697
|
NCAA baseball: Super Regional:
Arkansas-South Carolina |
6/10
|
ESPN
|
2:59-7:00pm
|
0.5
|
682
|
NCAA baseball: Super Regional:
Mississippi State-Vanderbilt |
6/10
|
ESPN2
|
8:00pm-1:30am
|
0.4
|
680
|
| UFC 225 pelims |
6/9
|
FS1
|
8:00-10:00pm
|
0.4
|
667
|
| "World of X Games: WSL Surfing" |
6/9
|
ABC
|
3:00-4:00pm
|
0.4
|
544
|
| "World of X Games: Brain Deegan Story" |
6/9
|
ABC
|
4:00-5:00pm
|
0.4
|
475
|
