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Ratings Roundup: Wyndham Final Round Beats NBA Play-In Game, U.S. Amateur Up Big
The vagaries of television ratings can sometimes be chalked up to who knows, who cares! And maybe it’s best we remain unaware of what makes Nielsen families click.
Take, for instance, the first mens major of 2020. ESPN saw healthy increases with Tiger Woods in their various broadcast windows. The final round on CBS, in eastern prime time, failed to draw a monster number given the alignment of stars and close finish. The so-so rating could be explained by not having Woods in contention as he was in the last August PGA Championship. And there is cordcutting, or summer viewing habits or, who knows. The PGA Championship’s final round rating certainly wasn’t the fault of too few shots shown or too little excitement.
So we move from that unforgettable final round with several stars in contention to last week’s Wyndham Championship, won in compelling fashion by Jim Herman over Billy Horschel. It was soggy, hot, with an ok field, but sports television offered plenty of competition: NASCAR, an NBA play-in game on ABC, NHL playoffs and MLB games across the country. Oh, and sports fans have lives, too, reportedly.
Yet the Wyndham held its own against the heavy competition. From ShowBuzzDaily.com’s roundup of sports ratings where you can see how the other sports fared:
The 1.62 edged out the Portland-Memphis NBA play-in game on ABC, which did draw a much younger audience, but just a 1.29. While this was not a true playoff game and the NBA/ABC combo is off 45% from 2012, this is still an eye-opening victory for pro golf. (The Athletic’s Ethan Strauss looks at the NBA’s falling ratings here.)
Up 36% from last year’s Wyndham, the tournament at Sedgefield also held its own against 2019’s BMW Championship. That was won by Justin Thomas and contested on a similar weekend as the 2020 Wyndham, but with less competition and a better field:
The second screen grab brings us to the U.S. Amateur, which moved to the west coast in 2020 and to Golf Channel from Fox Sports 1 and Fox. Last year’s final match on broadcast TV drew just a .22 on Fox and 310,000 average viewers.
The 2020 thriller at Bandon Dunes was played in eastern prime time on Golf Channel climbed to a 472,000 viewer average for a .29.
Overall, the Amateur did well in its return to Golf Channel. Then again, the audiences were down to non-existent on Fox.
Sunday’s Championship Match was up by more than 20% year-over-year in both the idyllic, dreamy, all-captivating 25-54 and 18-49 demos, making it the most watched most-watched cable telecast at the U.S. Amateur since a 1999 quarterfinal on ESPN. According to Golf Channel, coverage peaked with 600,000 viewers per minute from 10-10:15 PM ET.
Saturday (Semifinal Matches were up 59% and also peaked late, this time from 10:15-10:30 p.m. ET with more than 400k average viewers per minute.
Record Viewership at #USAmateur:
Thurs (RD of 16 Match Play): 167,000 viewers per min, +476% vs. '19 at Pinehurst; +88% vs '18 at Pebble Beach (west coast venue).
- Most-watched U.S. Amateur CABLE telecast in 10 years.
- Most-watched U.S. Amateur Thursday telecast in 16 years. pic.twitter.com/GjWGrVSEP8
Record Friday Viewership #USAmateur (Quarterfinals):
Most-watched #USAmateur weekday telecast in 16 years.
Most-watched #USAmateur CABLE telecast in 12 years.
220K viewers per min, +400% vs '19 on FS1, +168% vs. '18 at Pebble Beach (west coast).
Wknd final #s avail this week. pic.twitter.com/TjYUCLpX6s
On the bad news front, something had to give and the Senior Players, for some reason trying to play Thursday-Sunday even with no pro-am or spectators. Saturday’s round managed a .17 while Sunday’s final round won by Jerry Kelly did not make the top 150 cable broadcasts. Translation: there is only so much golf people can watch in one day.
