PGA Tour weekend broadcasts are enjoying a sharp ratings rebound after a spotty spring, and CBS is the beneficiary.
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| Woods, Wachovia started run-up in ratings. |
After several months of declining ratings compared to 2003, the tour experienced five straight weekends of ratings increases for its third and final rounds, all on CBS, starting with the Wachovia Championship on May 8-9. And in most cases the ratings were up over 2002, as well.
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The jump corresponded somewhat to a run of strong finishes by Tiger Woods, who was in contention during the final round in three of the five events. Those events saw ratings jumps between 16 and 64 percent in the Sunday final rounds compared to last year. In the two events where Woods did not play, the Bank of America Colonial and the FedEx St. Jude Classic, ratings were up between 5 and 21 percent for the four weekend rounds.
The PGA Tour was emphasizing its Saturday ratings, which, at press time, hadn’t dipped in six weeks compared to 2003. “What’s interesting is that our ratings for Saturday are very strong,” said Gil Kerr, PGA Tour vice president of broadcasting and programming. “We also had eight straight Saturdays at the beginning [of the season] where we were the highest-rated program of the day. That says to me there’s a natural interest in the sport for the sport’s sake, and when on the final day the tournament is in the balance, there’s that much more interest.”
The appeal of Woods and rival, Vijay Singh, is clear in the numbers. Singh won the two events before the current streak began, the Shell Houston Open and the HP Classic, and Woods did not participate. Of the four weekend broadcasts from those two tournaments, only one matched last year’s rating, the other three were down between 19 and 41 percent.
Television executives are closely monitoring ratings because negotiations with the tour for the next TV deal begin next summer. But one top media buyer refused to have his impression of golf’s value changed by the season’s ups and downs.
“Like all sports, golf is driven by the competition. When marquee players are in contention, and when the weather brings viewers inside to the set [as in a rainy May], you’re going to have higher ratings,” said Tom McGovern, director of sports marketing at OMD, the media-buying arm of BBDO. “Golf is a niche audience for the most part, and a very good one — upscale men. But it’s not a broad-based sport.”
