For the third straight year, and the second on new broadcaster FOX, the U.S. Open delivered some of its worst numbers on record.
Final round coverage of the U.S. Open earned a 3.4 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on FOX last Thursday, down 19% in ratings and viewership from last year (4.2, 6.7M) but up 13% and 17%, respectively, from 2014 on NBC (3.0, 4.6M).
Dustin Johnson‘s win, which peaked at 9.6 million from 7:30-8 PM ET, ranks as the second-least watched final round of the U.S. Open since at least 1987. Only 2014 delivered a smaller audience.
It also ranks as the second-lowest rated final round of the event since at least 1981. The U.S. Open has now earned its three lowest final round ratings in the past three years, with last year’s 4.2 ranking third and 2014’s 3.0 dead last.
Pittsburgh (7.8) led all markets for the final round, followed by Minneapolis-St. Paul (6.4), Greensboro, N.C. (5.7) and Jacksonville (5.6). Tampa-St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach rounded out the top five at a 5.4 apiece.
Second and third round action last Saturday drew a 2.2 and 3.3 million, down 21% in ratings and viewership from last year (2.8, 4.2M) and down a tick but up 5%, respectively, from 2014 (2.3, 3.2M). It was the second-least watched Saturday window since at least 1987, ahead of only 2014.
The 2.2 rating also ranks dead last for Saturday coverage in at least 35 years, falling below the previous mark set in 2014. As was the case with the final round, the three lowest rated telecasts have come in the past three years.
The Saturday numbers do not include bonus coverage on Fox Sports 1, which drew 1.7 million viewers in primetime (8-9 PM ET) and 819,000 in the morning (7:30-11 AM ET).
| LEAST-WATCHED THIRD/FINAL ROUNDS OF U.S. OPEN Dating back to 1988 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FINAL ROUND | THIRD ROUND | ||||
| Year | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Year | Rtg. | Vwrs. |
| 2014 | 3.0 | 4.63M | 2014 | 2.3 | 3.18M |
| 2016 | 3.4 | 5.39M | 2016 | 2.2 | 3.33M |
| 1988 | 4.5 | 5.86M | 1991 | 3.6 | 4.18M |
| 1991 | 4.7 | 5.91M | 2015 | 2.8 | 4.23M |
| 1994 | 4.8 | 6.19M | 2006 | 3.2 | 4.35M |
| 2015 | 4.2 | 6.69M | 1988 | 3.6 | 4.40M |
| 1993 | 5.4 | 6.75M | 2011 | 3.1 | 4.57M |
| 2003 | 4.9 | 6.77M | 1990 | 3.9 | 4.62M |
| 2006 | 4.7 | 6.95M | 2009 | 3.4 | 4.85M |
| 1995 | 5.6 | 7.04M | 1996 | 4.1 | 4.89M |
(Wknd. numbers from Fox Sports, Programming Insider; additional info from Sports TV Ratings)
