With Tiger Woods in contention for most of the tournament, NBC reaped the benefits in the third and final round on Fathers Day weekend. According to NBC, the network saw an increase of 65% in its third round ratings on Saturday and a spike of 43% on Sunday from the year before.
And while Tiger fell by the wayside on Sunday, viewers continued to watch as Webb Simpson came through to win his first major.
Saturday’s viewership saw an average of 7.6 million viewers and a 5.0 rating with a 12 share. Sunday registered a 6.0 rating, a 12 share and 9.6 million viewers. All of the numbers are up significantly from the year before when Rory McIlroy won the Open.
In addition, having the first primetime Open in four years also helped increase the numbers.
Here’s the press release from NBC Sports.
U.S. OPEN FINAL ROUND IS MOST WATCHED SINCE 2008
Sunday’s Final Round Averaged 9.6 Million Viewers, Up 30% vs. Last Year
Saturday’s Third Round Averaged 7.6 Million Viewers, Up 65% vs. Last Year and Best in a Decade
Weekend Coverage Averaged 8.6 Million Viewers, Up 43% vs. Last Year & Best Since 2008
Golf Channel’s News Coverage Produces Most-Watched “U.S. Open Week” EverNEW YORK – June 20, 2012 – Thirteen hours of weekend coverage of the 112th U.S. Open Championship from the Olympic Club in San Francisco on NBC produced: the most-watched final round in four years; the most-watched third round in a decade; and the most-watched combined Saturday-Sunday coverage in four years; according to data released by The Nielsen Company. In addition, Golf Channel’s news coverage of the championship, highlighted by its signature series Live from the U.S. Open, produced the most-watched U.S. Open Week in the channel’s 17-year history.
With the Open being played on the west coast, it allowed for extensive primetime viewing in much of the country. Previous west coast U.S. Opens that allowed for extensive primetime coverage came in 2008 from Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., and 2010 from Pebble Beach, Calif.
Following are viewership highlights:
Final Round
- Sunday’s final round broadcast averaged 9.6 million viewers, up 30% vs. last year (7.4 million) and the best since 2008 (12.1).
- Sunday received a 6.0 household rating and a 12 share, up 33% vs. last year and the best in four years (2008, 7.5/17)
- The rating peaked at a 7.5/12 in the 10–10:30 p.m. ET half-hour.
- This year’s U.S. Open, while going head-to-head with Game 3 of the NBA Finals, generated a higher rating (6.0/12) and more viewers (9.6 million) than Pebble Beach in 2010 (5.8/13 and 9.3 million), which was the last Open with primetime viewing.
- The top five markets in household rating were:
1. Fort Myers, Fla. 10.0
2. Columbus, Ohio 9.8
3. West Palm Beach, Fla. 9.4
4. Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. 9.1
5. Indianapolis 8.8
- San Francisco registered an 8.0 household rating and 22 share, up 129% vs. last year (3.5/13) and the best for the market since the 2000 U.S. Open (11.4/32) at Pebble Beach.
Third Round
- Saturday’s third round coverage averaged 7.6 million viewers, up 65% vs. last year (4.6 million) and the most-watched since 2002 (8.2 million).
- NBC’s third-round coverage (4-10:30 p.m. ET) received a 5.0 household rating and a 12 share, up 61% vs. last year and the best in a decade (2002, 6.0/17).
- Saturday’s coverage surpassed both 2010 (3.7/9 and 5.6 million) and 2008 (4.6/11 and 6.6 million) in ratings and viewership.
The combined Saturday-Sunday household rating (5.5/12) and viewership (8.6 million) were the best since 2008 (6.0/14 and 9.3 million), and up 41% and 43%, respectively, vs. last year (3.9/10 and 6.0 million viewers).
Golf Channel
- Golf Channel’s news coverage, which included its signature Live from the U.S. Open, had its most-watched U.S. Open Week in its 17-year history.
- Golf Channel had its most-watched U.S. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
- U.S. Open Week continued Golf Channel’s streak of “most-watched weeks,” which include Masters Week and PLAYERS Week.
- It was also the best ever U.S. Open Week for GolfChannel.com in page views (+178% vs. 2011), unique users (+266%), video streams (+356%) and page views for the Golf Channel mobile app (+209%).
There you have it.
