CBS saw its coverage spike to a 5.2 rating when Johnson came within one stroke of the leadGETTY IMAGES
CBS drew a 3.9 overnight rating for Brooks Koepka’s second straight PGA Championship win yesterday. It was also the first time the event had been held in May in decades. Koepka went into the final round with a seven-shot lead, the largest for the major on record after 54 holes. Last year, CBS drew a 6.1 overnight as Tiger Woods made a late charge and finished second. Two years ago, when Woods did not play and Justin Thomas beat out Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen, CBS drew a 3.6 overnight. That ’17 final round also competed against strong cable news ratings upticks due to coverage around white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va. The 3.9 overnight yesterday also is even with ’16, when Jimmy Walker won the event by one stroke over Jason Day, and even with the ’12 final round, which saw Rory McIlroy win by eight strokes (Woods finished T-11). When Dustin Johnson closed in and was down only one stroke yesterday, CBS saw its coverage spike to a 5.2 rating from 5:45-6:45pm ET. The peak rating came from 6:30-6:45pm (5.4 rating). Ft. Myers-Naples led all markets with an 8.0 local rating, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul (7.1), West Palm Beach (6.4), Cincinnati (6.3) and Greenville-Spartanburg (6.0). Meanwhile, TNT for its four days of coverage averaged a 1.1 overnight (includes 11:00am-2:00pm windows on Saturday, Sunday). TNT had been tracking strong heading into weekend, with Thursday/Friday up 12%, but the comparisons got tough with Woods playing in TNT’s early Saturday coverage last year (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
OVER THE TOP? YAHOO SPORTS' Ryan Young noted CBS' introduction of "aerial tracing" technology on Saturday "didn’t go over too well with the golf world." The aerial tracing was "essentially the same thing as the original shot tracer, except it showed the view from above instead of from behind -- which made it extremely hard to see the shot itself" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/18). GOLF DIGEST's Christopher Powers wrote CBS after rolling out the aerial tracing found out that "sometimes less is more." When the technology is used, the "first thing you notice is that the camera view" of the golfer "shrinks to a point where you almost can't see him on your TV screen, kind of like 'picture in picture.'" On the "big screen was a view of the line" of the ball flight and "where it was going to land." Fans on social media were quick to criticize CBS, and there is "plenty more where that came from" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 5/18). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth wrote the aerial tracing "probably shouldn’t have debuted during coverage of the PGA Championship," as it was "all but gone" for yesterday's final round (L.A. TIMES, 5/20).
POOR JUDGEMENT: USA TODAY's Andy Nesbitt notes Koepka's second shot on yesterday's final hole was "arguably the biggest shot of the tournament," and the CBS broadcast "totally messed it up." Instead of "sticking with Koepka and breaking down his shot," CBS cut to a post-round interview with Johnson, who was "talking about his round while they showed Koepka's shot." It was "terrible timing and angered fans watching the drama unfold on TV" (USATODAY.com, 5/20).
NOTES: In N.Y., Karen Crouse notes the winds at Bethpage Black "kicked up" yesterday, causing CBS’ blimp to "evacuate the airspace above the course while Koepka was on the front nine" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/20)....GOLFWEEK's Forecaddie noted loud cheers and jeers for Koepka and Johnson yesterday after hitting bad shots "earned a scolding from the CBS announcers" (GOLFWEEK,com, 5/19).
