With Tiger Woods taking last week off to prepare for this week’s WGC-CA Championship, ratings tanked for the Honda Classic.
Final round coverage of the Honda Classic drew a 1.5/3 final rating on NBC last Sunday, down 29% from a 2.1/5 last year. The 1.5 final rating is the second-lowest of the season for live final round coverage of a PGA event, ahead of only a 1.3 for the FBR Open in February.
Third round coverage on Saturday drew a mere 1.2/3, down 14% from ’08.
Entering the WGC-CA Championship, which will feature Tiger Woods‘ first action of the season on broadcast, eleven PGA Tour telecasts on CBS and NBC have averaged a 1.6 rating, down 32% from a 2.4 for the comparable eleven telecasts last year. Final round coverage is averaging a 2.0 rating, down 29% from a 2.8 last year. Both comparisons exclude final round coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which was rained out this year.
Ratings for PGA Tour events on broadcast.
Excludes final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
| Date | Time | Net | Event | Round | 2009 rtg | 2008 rtg | +/- |
| Sat., 1/31/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | FBR Open | Third | 1.2 | 1.8 | -33% |
| Sun., 2/1/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | FBR Open | Final | 1.3 | 2.3 | -43% |
| Sat., 2/7/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Buick Invitational | Third | 1.2 | 2.7 | -56% |
| Sun., 2/8/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Buick Invitational | Final | 2.0 | 4.2 | -52% |
| Sat., 2/14/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am | Third | 1.3 | 1.7 | -24% |
| Sat., 2/21/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Northern Trust Open | Third | 1.7 | 1.9 | -11% |
| Sun., 2/22/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Northern Trust Open | Final | 3.3 | 2.5 | 32% |
| Sat., 2/28/09 | 2:00 PM | NBC | WGC Accenture Match Play Championship | Third | 1.4 | 2.8 | -50% |
| Sun., 3/1/09 | 2:00 PM | NBC | WGC Accenture Match Play Championship | Final | 1.9 | 3.0 | -37% |
| Sat., 3/7/09 | 3:00 PM | NBC | Honda Classic | Third | 1.2 | 1.4 | -14% |
| Sun., 3/8/09 | 3:00 PM | NBC | Honda Classic | Final | 1.5 | 2.1 | -29% |
| Average rating | 1.6 | 2.4 | -32% | ||||
