Overnight ratings sank for the PGA Tour’s annual Boston stop, with a major caveat.
Tape delayed final round coverage of the PGA Tour Deutsche Bank Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup, earned a 1.6 overnight rating on NBC Monday afternoon — down 27% from last year (2.2), down 24% from 2014 (2.1), and the tournament’s lowest final round overnight since 2008 (1.5).
Due to anticipated rain, the PGA moved up Monday’s final tee times to 9 AM ET, four hours earlier than scheduled. As a result, NBC decided to air its scheduled window on tape delay, rather than pick up coverage with play nearly concluded. There were only 45 minutes of live play during NBC’s 4 1/2 hour window, with the network coming on air at 1:30 PM and Rory McIlroy claiming victory at around 2:15.
With PGA Tour ratings mired in a recent slump, it is likely that ratings would have declined even if the event aired live. Sunday’s telecast was the 11th of the past 13 final round PGA windows to decline from last year, with each of the past seven hitting a multi-year low.
On Sunday, live third round coverage had a 1.5 overnight — down 25% from last year (2.0) and down 17% from 2014 (1.8). It was the sixth straight third round window to decline from last year and the fifth to hit a multi-year low.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
