The U.S. Women’s Open sank in year one on Fox Sports.
The tournament has now averaged fewer than 600,000 viewers in five of the past six years, after never having dipped below 800,000 in the previous fifteen.
Final round coverage drew a 0.7 final rating and 970,000 viewers on FOX last Sunday, down 50% in ratings and 52% in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.0M) and flat and down a fraction of a percent, respectively, from 2013 (0.7, 971K). Third round action the previous day drew a 0.4 and 605,000, down 60% in ratings and 57% in viewership from last year (1.0, 1.4M) and down 33% and 19%, respectively, from 2013 (0.6, 748K).
Rounding out the action, last Friday’s second round drew 238,000 on Fox Sports 1 — down 57% from last year (559K) but actually up 1% from 2013 (235K). As previously reported, first round coverage was the least-watched U.S. Women’s Open telecast on record with 210,000.
The U.S. Women’s Open averaged fewer viewers than the Women’s PGA Championship in June, which averaged 520,000 viewers on NBC and Golf Channel. This is the first time in at least a decade that the U.S. Women’s Open has not been the year’s most-watched women’s golf event.
(Nielsen, with additional info from Sports Business Daily, Sports TV Ratings)
