Despite the presence of Serena Williams, the US Open women’s semifinals could not measure up to last year’s all-American affair.
The US Open women’s semifinals — Williams-Anastasija Sevastova and Naomi Osaka-Madison Keys — earned 1.76 million viewers on ESPN Thursday night, down 10% from last year, when all four semifinalists were Americans (1.96M), but up 21% from 2016 (1.45M).
It was the first US Open telecast featuring Williams to decline from last year.
Despite the drop, the telecast trailed only last year as the most-watched women’s semifinals since 2013 on CBS (1.83M). It was also the most-watched telecast of this year’s tournament, topping Tuesday’s quarterfinal coverage (1.68M).
Keep in mind the tennis faced lesser competition from the NFL. The Falcons-Eagles Kickoff Game began 45 minutes later than usual, kicking off after Williams’ win over Sevastova ended. In addition, the NFL audience was 13 percent smaller than last year.
Through Thursday, the US Open has averaged approximately 970,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN2 — up 4% from last year (933K) and up 15% from 2016 (843K). It is the highest average at this point of the tournament since 2015, when Williams was pursuing the calendar Grand Slam (1.20M).
US Open Women’s Semifinal Viewership
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 9.7]
