2012 PGA Tour Numbers Game (Ratings and Viewership For Every Tournament)

Posted by | 10/06/2012 at 7:30 am

2012 was a red hot year for professional golf, at least compared to the last two seasons.

Of the 70 PGA Tour telecasts on CBS, NBC and ESPN, a whopping 50* had increases in ratings compared to the previous edition of the tournament. Furthermore, 42 telecasts were up double-digits, and 23 increased by at least 50%.

Fifteen telecasts attracted at least 3% of U.S. television households, matching the combined total of the previous two years.

The top golf telecast of the year was, unsurprisingly, the final round of The Masters (8.0, 13.487M). With that said, all four major telecasts on CBS (third and final round coverage of The Masters and the PGA Championship) had double-digit declines.

On the flip side, the lowest rated telecast of the year was the third round of the RBC Canadian Open, which earned a 0.6 opposite the first full day of the Olympics.

The year ended on a strong note, as nine of the final ten telecasts (the FedEx Cup tournaments and the Ryder Cup) had increases of over 50% compared to last year. The only exception was still up by more than 40%.

Ratings For Every Weekend PGA Tour Telecast This Season

Date Event Round Net 2012 2011 vs. ’11 2010 vs. ’10
Sat., 1/28/12 Farmers Insurance Open Third CBS
1.0
2.0
-50%
1.5
-33%
Sun., 1/29/12 Final CBS
1.8
3.5
-49%
2.2
-18%
Sat., 2/4/12 Phoenix Open Third CBS
1.3
1.7
-24%
N/A
Sun., 2/5/12 Final CBS
2.0
1.8
+11%
N/A
Sat., 2/11/12 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Third CBS
2.6
1.6
+63%
1.2
+117%
Sun., 2/12/12 Final CBS
4.9
2.3
+113%
1.6
+206%
Sat., 2/18/12 Northern Trust Open Third CBS
2.1
N/A
1.4
+50%
Sun., 2/19/12 Final CBS
4.2
2.3
+83%
1.7
+147%
Sat., 2/25/12 Accenture Match Play Championship Third NBC
1.3
1.7
-24%
0.8
+63%
Sun., 2/26/12 Final NBC
2.3
1.7
+35%
2.1
+10%
Sat., 3/3/12 Honda Classic Third NBC
1.7
1.5
+13%
1.2
+42%
Sun., 3/4/12 Final NBC
2.8
1.7
+65%
1.6
+75%
Sat., 3/10/12 Cadillac Championship Third NBC
2.0
1.4
+43%
1.3
+54%
Sun., 3/11/12 Final NBC
2.8
2.3
+22%
1.9
+47%
Sat., 3/17/12 Transitions Championship Third NBC
1.1
1.0
+10%
1.0
+10%
Sun., 3/18/12 Final NBC
1.8
1.4
+29%
1.7
+6%
Sat., 3/24/12 Arnold Palmer Invitational Third NBC
2.7
1.8
+50%
1.3
+108%
Sun., 3/25/12 Final NBC
4.3
1.9
+126%
1.5
+187%
Sat., 3/31/12 Shell Houston Open Third NBC
1.9
1.5
+27%
1.2
+58%
Sun., 4/1/12 Final NBC
2.4
2.4
even
2.0
+20%
Sat., 4/7/12 The Masters Third CBS
5.0
6.5
-23%
6.7
-25%
Sun., 4/8/12 Final CBS
8.0
9.5
-16%
10.7
-25%
Sat., 4/14/12 RBC Heritage Third CBS
1.2
1.1
+9%
1.0
+20%
Sun., 4/15/12 Final CBS
1.6
1.9
-16%
1.9
-16%
Sat., 4/21/12 Texas Open Third CBS
1.0
0.9
+11%
0.8
+25%
Sun., 4/22/12 Final CBS
1.4
1.2
+17%
1.3
+8%
Sat., 4/28/12 Zurich Classic of New Orleans Third CBS
1.2
1.1
+9%
1.1
+9%
Sun., 4/29/12 Final CBS
2.0
1.9
+5%
1.3
+54%
Sat., 5/5/12 Quail Hollow Championship Third CBS
1.3
1.2
+8%
1.3
even
Sun., 5/6/12 Final CBS
2.3
1.8
+28%
2.2
+5%
Sat., 5/12/12 The Players Championship Third NBC
2.3
1.4
+64%
2.3
even
Sun., 5/13/12 Final NBC
3.2
3.1
+3%
3.0
+7%
Sat., 5/19/12 Byron Nelson Invitational Third CBS
1.1
1.1
even
0.9
+22%
Sun., 5/20/12 Final CBS
1.9
1.4
+36%
1.5
+27%
Sat., 5/26/12 Crowne Plaza Invitational Third CBS
1.2
1.1
+9%
0.8
+50%
Sun., 5/27/12 Final CBS
1.7
1.9
-11%
0.9
+89%
Sat., 6/2/12 The Memorial Third CBS
2.4
1.4
+71%
1.6
+50%
Sun., 6/3/12 Final CBS
3.5
1.3
+169%
2.8
+25%
Sat., 6/9/12 St. Jude Classic Third CBS
1.2
1.0
+20%
1.0
+20%
Sun., 6/10/12 Final CBS
1.7
1.8
-6%
1.7
even
Sat., 6/16/12 U.S. Open Third NBC
5.0
3.1
+61%
3.7
+35%
Sun., 6/17/12 Final NBC
6.0
4.5
+33%
5.8
+3%
Sat., 6/23/12 Travelers Championship Third CBS
1.1
1.1
even
0.8
+38%
Sun., 6/24/12 Final CBS
1.6
1.3
+23%
1.7
-6%
Sat., 6/30/12 AT&T National Third CBS
2.2
1.1
+100%
1.3
+69%
Sun., 7/1/12 Final CBS
4.4
1.5
+193%
1.8
+144%
Sat., 7/7/12 The Greenbrier Classic Third CBS
1.4
0.9
+56%
1.0
+40%
Sun., 7/8/12 Final CBS
2.2
1.3
+69%
1.2
+83%
Sat., 7/14/12 John Deere Classic Third CBS
1.2
1.1
+9%
1.0
+20%
Sun., 7/15/12 Final CBS
2.2
1.6
+38%
1.2
+83%
Sat., 7/21/12 British Open Third ESPN
2.6
1.8
+44%
2.3
+13%
Sun., 7/22/12 Final ESPN
3.1
2.3
+35%
2.1
+48%
Sat., 7/28/12 RBC Canadian Open Third CBS
0.6
1.0
-40%
0.8
-25%
Sun., 7/29/12 Final CBS
0.8
1.8
-56%
1.2
-33%
Sat., 8/4/12 Bridgestone Invitational Third CBS
0.9
1.9
-53%
1.4
-36%
Sun., 8/5/12 Final CBS
1.3
2.6
-50%
2.1
-38%
Sat., 8/11/12 PGA Championship Third CBS
2.0
2.3
-13%
2.8
-29%
Sun., 8/12/12 Final CBS
3.4
4.1
-17%
4.3
-21%
Sat., 8/18/12 Wyndham Championship Third CBS
1.2
1.1
+9%
1.0
+20%
Sun.., 8/19/12 Final CBS
1.1
1.6
-31%
1.4
-21%
Fed Ex Cup
Sat., 8/25/12 The Barclays Third CBS
1.9
1.1
+73%
1.7
+12%
Sun., 8/26/12 Final CBS
2.5
0.7
+257%
2.1
+19%
Sun., 9/2/12 Deutsche Bank Championship Third NBC
2.4
1.4
+71%
1.5
+60%
Mon., 9/3/12 Final NBC
3.3
1.8
+83%
1.9
+74%
Sat., 9/8/12 BMW Championship Third NBC
1.6
0.7
+129%
1.1
+45%
Sun., 9/9/12 Final NBC
2.5
0.9
+178%
1.3
+92%
Sat., 9/22/12 Tour Championship Third NBC
2.0
1.0
+100%
0.9
+122%
Sun., 9/23/12 Final NBC
2.0
1.4
+43%
1.0
+100%
Ryder Cup
Sat., 9/29/12 Ryder Cup Third NBC
3.0
N/A
1.8
+67%
Sun., 9/30/12 Final NBC
3.8
N/A
2.1
+81%

* Excludes the third round of the Northern Trust Open, as no comparison was available to the most recent edition of the tournament.

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  • Pink Panther

    Usual humongous ratings for all Sundays when Tiger won the three tournaments this year!  The Needle will be back even more in 2013!

  • Pink Panther

    As usual, the three Sundays when Tiger won the tournament have the highest TV ratings.