Wimbledon has gotten off to a better start despite the absence of Serena Williams. In other news, the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest pulled about even with its previous live airing, and the U.S. Senior Open scored its lowest final round rating in at least 20 years.
Wimbledon Viewership Up Double-Digits
- ESPN has averaged 558,000 viewers for Wimbledon through Thursday’s play, up 22% vs. last year (457K) and up 3% vs. 2015 (542K). All four days of coverage have increased year-over-year. Tuesday’s first round coverage delivered the highest audience thus far (731K) and the biggest increase (+63%), with the caveat that it took place on a national holiday.
Hot Dog Contest About Even With Last Live Airing
- Live coverage of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest pulled 1.11 million viewers on ESPN2 Tuesday afternoon, off 1% from 2015, the last time the event aired live (1.13M). Compared to last year’s first airing of the event, which was tape delayed on ESPN, viewership fell 16% from 1.3 million.
U.S. Senior Open Hits Low
- Final round coverage of the U.S. Senior Open pulled a 0.5 final rating and 781,000 viewers on FOX last Sunday, down a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from 2015 (0.6, 832K). Last year’s coverage was rained out, earning a 0.2 and 283,000 opposite the Olympics. The 0.5 rating is the lowest for final round coverage of the tournament in at least 20 years. Third round action the previous day had a 0.43 and 615,000 — up 87% in ratings and 84% in viewership from last year against the Olympics (0.23, 334K) but down 18% and 15% respectively from 2015 (0.53, 726K).
