The PGA Tour continues to maintain its ratings momentum on CBS and Golf Channel. Plus: the NHL scored its top cable audience since Opening Night; the F1 British Grand Prix hit a new high; and more.
PGA Tour still riding high on CBS, Golf Channel
Coverage of the PGA Tour on CBS has averaged 2.46 million viewers on CBS since the season resumed in June, up 27% from the comparable period of last year. Thirteen of the network’s 16 windows since hiatus have increased over last year, ten by double-digits.
Sunday’s final round of the WGC-St. Jude Classic averaged a 2.1 rating and 3.20 million viewers on CBS, up 31% in ratings and 39% in viewership from last year (1.6, 2.31M), and the second-largest PGA Tour audience since the season’s resumption. The final round at the Memorial averaged 3.23 million.
Third round action on Saturday averaged a 1.5 (+36%) and 2.17 million (+35%) on CBS. Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel averaged a 0.45 (+45%) and 635,000 (+52%) on Saturday and a 0.6 (+73%) and 952,000 (+78%) on Sunday.
Blues-Avs thriller top NHL game on cable since Opening Night
Sunday’s Blues-Avalanche NHL round robin averaged a 0.40 rating and 655,000 on NBCSN (684K including streaming), marking the largest NHL audience on cable since Opening Night (Capitals-Blues: 724K).
Elsewhere in the NHL’s resumption of play, NBCSN averaged 596,000 viewers for Monday’s Canadiens-Penguins Game 2 and 502,000 for Rangers-Hurricanes Game 1 on Saturday. None of the other qualifying games on cable have cracked the 500,000 mark.
Over on the NBC broadcast network, Sunday’s Flyers-Bruins round robin averaged a 0.8 and 1.42 million — the third-largest audience of the NHL season behind the Winter Classic and the previous day’s Canadiens-Penguins opener (0.9, 1.50M).
F1 British GP hits high on ESPN
The Formula 1 British Grand Prix averaged a 0.47 rating and 736,000 viewers on ESPN, marking the largest audience for the race since it last aired on broadcast television in 2012 (977K). The audience, which peaked at 825,000 from 10:15-10:30 AM ET, increased 22% from last year.
Plus: World Team Tennis, Douglas-Tyson, WNBA
Sunday’s World Team Tennis final averaged a 0.39 rating and 556,000 viewers on CBS, marking the largest audience in league history. The previous record was set two weeks earlier on CBS (0.34, 484K). … A re-air of Buster Douglas’ 1990 upset of Mike Tyson averaged a 0.47 and 616,000 on ABC Saturday afternoon, surpassing all live boxing events since February. … Sunday’s Mercury-Liberty WNBA regular season game, which did not include an injured Sabrina Ionescu, averaged a 0.17 and 248,000 on ESPN — up 17% and 23% respectively from Sun-Lynx in the same window a week earlier (0.14, 202K).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 8.5]
