Facing unusually light competition for a spring Sunday, the WGC Match Play hit a four-year ratings high.
Final day coverage of the PGA/WGC Match Play earned a 2.0 final rating and 3.2 million viewers on NBC last Sunday, up 33% in ratings and 53% in viewership from last year (1.5, 2.1M), up 11% and 28%, respectively, from coverage on CBS in 2014 (1.8, 2.5M), and the highest rated and most-watched Sunday of the event since 2012 (2.3, 3.3M).
Last year’s tournament took place in May and faced competition from the NBA Playoffs and NASCAR. The 2014 tournament took place in February and aired opposite the Winter Olympics.
By contrast, Sunday’s coverage faced competition only from the Women’s NCAA Elite Eight on ESPN and the tape delayed Women’s Frozen Four final on CBS, neither of which had more than 1.4 million viewers. The men’s Elite Eight did not air until primetime, and both the NBA on ABC and NASCAR on FOX had the weekend off.
Ratings and viewership have now risen for four of the past five Sunday PGA Tour telecasts and six of the past eight.
Saturday’s coverage had a 1.5 and 2.2 million, down 12% in ratings and 14% in viewership from last year, when coverage aired in primetime after the Kentucky Derby (1.7, 2.5M) but up 15% and 24%, respectively, from 2014 on CBS (1.3, 1.8M).
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily)
