Audience Analysis: Preakness Reaches All-Time Low On NBC

NBC on Saturday drew 5.4 million viewers for the race segment of the Preakness Stakes, marking the net’s lowest audience for the race since acquiring rights in ’01. ABC’s last time with the Preakness in ’00 actually was lower at 4.9 million viewers. This year’s race was without a Kentucky Derby winner for the first time since ’96. Country House, which won the Derby after a DQ, did not race, and neither did Maximum Security, which saw its Derby victory put aside by the DQ. Last year, Justify’s Preakness victory drew 7.9 million viewers.

UPS & DOWNS: CBS saw a sharp year-over-year drop for the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday, as Brooks Koepka completed a wire-to-wire victory and came into the final round with the biggest 54-hole lead in PGA Championship history. The network drew 5.0 million viewers for Sunday’s final round, down from 8.5 million in mid-August last year, when Koepka dueled with Tiger Woods on the way to victory. This year, Woods did not make the cut. Two years ago, Justin Thomas’ two-stroke win over Francesco Molinari, Patrick Reed and Louis Oosthuizen drew 4.9 million viewers. Woods did not play that year.

The chart below lists viewership from select recent sports telecasts.

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