Only Tiger Woods could get two million viewers per minute to watch 5 1/2 hours of year-old golf.
Sunday’s rebroadcast of last year’s Masters final round, in which Tiger Woods claimed his first major victory since 2008, averaged a 1.4 rating and 2.16 million viewers on CBS — marking the highest rated and most-watched sportscast since the majority of events were called off on March 11-12.
The previous high was 1.42 million for the ESPN 30 For 30 “Elway to Marino” on ABC March 21. The previous high for a golf telecast was 1.25 million for a March 22 encore of the 2018 Tampa Bay Championship on NBC, which saw Woods come to within a birdie putt of a playoff.
Woods’ win averaged a 6.9 and 10.81 million when it aired live last year, but those numbers were lower than usual because of the early 9 AM ET start time. An encore presentation that aired immediately after the live broadcast averaged a 3.0 and 4.54 million.
On Saturday, a rebroadcast of Phil Mickelson’s 2004 Masters win averaged a 0.7 and 1.03 million on CBS. On ESPN Friday, a rebroadcast of Woods’ 2005 win averaged a 0.23 and 337,000. A rebroadcast of Woods’ 1997 win averaged a 0.21 and 316,000 on Thursday.
It should be noted that while Sunday’s numbers were strong by encore standards, the telecast trailed every final round played this season. The season-lows for final round coverage so far this season are a 1.7 (twice) and 2.51 million (Honda Classic).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 4.14]
