The race may not have had a Triple Crown candidate, but it did feature the champions from this year’s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Winning the race was a 24-1 longshot, Ruler on Ice.
The race was quite exciting to watch and even with no Triple Crown possibility, the ratings for the Belmont were up 55% from 2010 which was the last year on ABC. We have the ratings press release from NBC Sports.
BELMONT OVERNIGHT RATINGS UP 55%
NBC’s First Belmont Stakes Broadcast Since 2005 Earns 4.8 Overnight Rating and 11 Share
Pre-Race Following VERSUS 2-Hour Belmont Access up 86%NEW YORK – June 12, 2011 – NBC Sports first broadcast of the Belmont Stakes since 2005, which was won by 24-1 long shot Ruler on Ice, registered a 4.8 overnight rating and an 11 share for the race portion, up 55 percent from last year’s race on ABC, according to overnight ratings data provided today by The Nielsen Company.
The NBC Sports Group presented 6 ½ hours of Belmont Stakes coverage (four-and-a half hours on VERSUS and two hours on NBC), the first time the entire Triple Crown was broadcast on one network since 2005.
- The race portion of the Belmont (6:15-7 p.m. ET) registered a 4.8/11 overnight rating, 55 percent higher than last year’s race portion on ABC (3.1/7 from 5:30-7 p.m. ET).
- The rating is down just four percent from the Belmont in 2009 when jockey Calvin Borel attempted to make history by becoming the first jockey to win the Triple Crown on two different horses (Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont and Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness).
- The pre-race (5-6:15), bolstered by a two-hour Belmont Access show on VERSUS that preceded the NBC broadcast was up 86 percent over last year’s pre-race on ABC (2.6/6 vs. 1.4/3).
- The 2.6 overnight rating for the pre-show was the best for that segment in a non-Triple Crown year since 2006.
BELMONT STAKES OVERNIGHT RATINGS SINCE 2006 (Race Portion):
2011, 4.8/11, NBC
2010, 3.1/7, ABC
2009, 5.0/12, ABC (Borel going for unprecedented jockey Triple Crown)
2008, 9.5/21, ABC (Triple Crown at stake – Big Brown)
2007, 3.5/8, ABC
2006, 3.8/9, ABCTOP 10 OVERNIGHT RATINGS FOR BELMONT STAKES:
1. Ft. Myers, 8.7/17
T2. Louisville, 8.6/18
T2. Baltimore, 8.6/18
4. Hartford, 8.1/15
T5. New York, 7.4/16
T5. Buffalo, 7.4/17
7. West Palm Beach, 7.2/13
8. Nashville, 7.1/13
T9. Tampa, 6.8/15
T9. Providence, 6.8/13The Belmont ratings success follows strong ratings for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in the first year since 2005 that NBC broadcast all three Triple Crown races.
That is all.
