No Tiger and no drama meant a steep decline in overnight ratings for the British Open.
Sunday’s final round of the British Open earned a 2.9 overnight rating on NBC, down 42% from last year, when Tiger Woods held a share of the lead and finished in the top ten (5.0), and down 19% from 2017 (3.6).
The 2.9 is the lowest for final round coverage of the tournament since 2015, when the tournament aired on ESPN for the final time. That year, final round coverage was pushed to Monday and had a 2.6.
Overall, the 2.9 is the fifth-lowest for final round coverage since at least 1995, ahead of only 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015.
Woods missed the cut this year, as did fellow stars Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. There was no on-course drama to make up for the lack of starpower, as Shane Lowry won by six strokes.
In addition, Sunday’s play was moved up to avoid inclement weather. While that did not affect NBC’s primary broadcast window too much — coverage ran until 1:30 PM ET, a half-hour earlier than last year’s 2 PM finish — it likely did not help either.
On Saturday, third round action posted a 2.5 — down 17% from last year (3.0) but up a tick from 2017 (2.4). Early morning coverage posted a 1.2 overnight on both Saturday (-20%) and Sunday (-33%).
British Open final round overnights, past 20 years
[Numbers from Sports Business Daily 7.22]
