Overnight ratings for the U.S. Open were up almost across the board from last year for NBC. Only Thursday afternoon coverage was down from last year; first round coverage drew a 2.0/6, down 5% from a 2.1 overnight for first round coverage last year.
Coverage of the second round drew a 2.6 overnight, up 18% from a 2.2 last year.
The largest increases came over the weekend; last year, Tiger Woods missed the cut, leading to disastrous ratings for NBC. Third round coverage drew a mere 3.2, while the final round drew a 5.1. With Woods not only participating in weekend action, but in contention to win the championship, ratings went up significantly. Third round coverage on Saturday drew a 4.6 overnight, up 44% from the 3.2 rating last year. Final round coverage on Sunday drew a 7.0 overnight, up 37% from the 5.1 last year. The 7.0 “marks the best Sunday overnight for the event since a 9.3/21 in ?02, when Woods won at Bethpage.”
This will likely end up being the first time since 2002 that the final round of the U.S. Open draws a rating higher than 5.6. From 1997 to 2002, the final round of the U.S. Open did not draw a rating lower than 6.
