ESPN averaged a 2.5 U.S. rating and 3.925 million viewers for Roger
Federer’s win over Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men’s final Sunday,
marking the net’s highest-rated and most-viewed tennis match ever. The
net’s previous record was shared by the 1995 Australian Open Andre
Agassi-Pete Sampras men’s final and 2002 Australian Open Jennifer
Capriati-Martina Hingis women's final. The Federer-Murray match is up
39% and 48%, respectively, from a 1.8 rating and 2.652 million viewers
on NBC last year for Novak Djokovic’ win over Rafael Nadal.
Federer-Murray is also up from Nadal’s win over Tomas Berdych in ’10
(1.6 rating, 2.317 million viewers). The last time Federer appeared in
the Wimbledon final in ’09, he defeated Andy Roddick, and NBC earned a
3.8 rating and 5.706 million viewers.
WIMBLEDON MEN'S FINAL AUDIENCE TREND
|
YEAR
|
NET
|
MATCHUP |
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
'12
|
ESPN
|
Roger Federer-Andy Murray |
2.5
|
3,925
|
'11
|
NBC
|
Novak Djokovic-Rafael Nadal |
1.8
|
2,652
|
'10
|
NBC
|
Rafael Nadal-Tomas Berdych |
1.6
|
2,317
|
'09
|
NBC
|
Roger Federer-Andy Roddick |
3.8
|
5,706
|
'08
|
NBC
|
Rafael Nadal-Roger Federer |
3.5
|
5,173
|
ONE FOR THE LADIES: ESPN earned a 2.0 U.S. rating
and 2.234 million viewers for Serena Williams’ defeat of Agnieszka
Radwanska Saturday for her fifth Wimbledon title. The equivalent
three-hour window last year on NBC for the Petra Kvitova-Maria Sharapova
final earned a 1.9 rating and 2.249 million viewers. Williams last
appeared in the Wimbledon final in ’10, with NBC earning a 1.6 rating
and 2.234 million viewers for her defeat of Vera Zvonareva. That
telecast aired against a men’s FIFA World Cup quarterfinal match (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
WIMBLEDON WOMEN'S FINAL AUDIENCE TREND
|
YEAR
|
NET
|
MATCHUP
|
RATING
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
'12
|
ESPN
|
Serena Williams-Agnieszka Radwanska
|
2.0
|
2,234
|
'11
|
NBC
|
Petra Kvitova-Maria Sharapova
|
1.9
|
2,249
|
'10
|
NBC
|
Serena Williams-Vera Zvonareva
|
1.6
|
2,234
|
'09
|
NBC
|
Serena Williams-Venus Williams
|
2.3
|
3,272
|
'08
|
NBC
|
Venus Williams-Serena Williams
|
2.5
|
3,654
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE TOTAL PACKAGE: This year marked the first time ESPN aired
complete coverage of Wimbledon. ESPN and ESPN2 combined to average a 0.7
U.S. rating (981,000 viewers), which is flat compared to the combined
NBC/ESPN2 coverage last year. The audience for five Wimbledon telecasts
this year also topped any previous ESPN/ESPN2 Wimbledon telecast since
the net acquired Wimbledon cable rights in ’03. The net’s previous best
Wimbledon audience heading into this year’s tournament was a women’s
quarterfinal match in ’07 (Karp). TENNIS.com's Steve Tignor
gave ESPN's coverage of Wimbledon an "A" grade and wrote the net "rose
to the occasion" of broadcasting the entire tournament for the first
time. Utilizing both ESPN and ESPN2 "gave it much more flexibility in
what it could show, and if you were lucky enough to be able to see the
half-dozen other matches on ESPN3 online during the day ... you really
did feel like you were there." The net's announcers "still talk too
much," and while Mike Tirico "was a good fit," Hannah Storm "wasn’t."
Tignor: "Still, this was a tremendous, overstuffed Wimbledon, and ESPN’s
all-out effort for two weeks did it justice. That’s saying something" (TENNIS.com, 7/9).
BIG HIT IN CANADA: TSN averaged 515,000 viewers for the
Federer-Murray match, marking the most-viewed Wimbledon final on
Canadian TV. That figure is up 16% compared to the previous record of
445,000 viewers set during the Federer-Nadal final in '08. Full coverage
of Wimbledon on TSN and TSN2 this year was up 16% compared to last year
(
TSN).