Absent Serena Williams and Roger Federer, ratings tanked for the U.S. Open singles finals.
Saturday’s Angelique Kerber/Karolina Pliskova U.S. Open women’s final had a 1.0 final rating and 1.5 million viewers on ESPN, down 9% in ratings and viewership from Flavia Pennetta/Roberta Vinci last year (1.1, 1.6M) and down 66% and 67%, respectively, from Serena Williams/Caroline Wozniacki in 2014, which aired on CBS with an NFL lead-in (2.9, 4.5M).
Kerber’s three-set win ranks as the lowest rated U.S. Open final ever and is the least-watched since at least 2000. The previous lows were a 1.1 for multiple matches and 1.6 million for last year’s women’s final.
No U.S. Open women’s final has managed a 2.0 rating sans Serena Williams since 2007, when Justine Henin‘s win over Svetlana Kuznetsova had a 2.1. Each final involving Serena or her sister Venus Williams has posted at least a 2.9.
On Sunday, the Stan Wawrinka/Novak Djokovic men’s final had a 1.1 and 1.7 million — down 39% in ratings and 47% in viewership from Djokovic/Federer last year, which began three hours later due to rain (1.8, 3.2M) and down 31% and 24%, respectively, from Marin Cilic/Kei Nishikori in 2014, which aired on CBS on a Monday afternoon (1.6, 2.2M).
The 1.1 rating is the lowest ever for the U.S. Open men’s final, while viewership was the lowest since at least 2001. In both measures, the previous lows were held by Cilic/Nishikori two years ago.
| RATINGS/VIEWERS FOR U.S. OPEN FINALS Past 15 years |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Women | Men | ||||||
| Net | Winner | Rtg. | Vwrs. | Net | Winner | Rtg. | Vwrs. | |
| 2016 | ESPN | Kerber | 1.0 | 1.46M | ESPN | Wawrinka | 1.1 | 1.67M |
| 2015 | ESPN | Pennetta | 1.1 | 1.60M | ESPN | Djokovic | 1.8 | 3.15M |
| 2014 | CBS | S. Williams | 2.9 | 4.50M | CBS | Cilic | 1.6 | 2.20M |
| 2013 | CBS | S. Williams | 4.0 | 6.17M | CBS | Nadal | 2.4 | 3.43M |
| 2012 | CBS | S. Williams | 3.4 | 5.17M | CBS | Murray | 2.4 | 3.55M |
| 2011 | CBS | Stosur | 3.3 | 4.93M | CBS | Djokovic | 2.3 | 3.34M |
| 2010 | CBS | Clijsters | 1.7 | 2.61M | CBS, ESPN2 | Nadal | 1.8 | 2.47M |
| 2009 | ESPN2 | Clijsters | 1.1 | 1.83M | CBS | Del Potro | 2.3 | 3.39M |
| 2008 | CBS | S. Williams | 3.3 | 4.85M | CBS | Federer | 1.7 | 2.32M |
| 2007 | CBS | Henin | 2.1 | 3.09M | CBS | Federer | 3.7 | 5.36M |
| 2006 | CBS | Sharapova | 2.4 | 3.50M | CBS | Federer | 4.1 | 6.02M |
| 2005 | CBS | Clijsters | 2.7 | 4.06M | CBS | Federer | 4.8 | 7.14M |
| 2004 | CBS | Kuznetsova | 2.2 | 3.17M | CBS | Federer | 2.5 | 3.43M |
| 2003 | CBS | Henin | 2.5 | 3.70M | CBS | Roddick | 3.5 | 5.32M |
| 2002 | CBS | S. Williams | 5.2 | 7.89M | CBS | Sampras | 6.2 | 9.36M |
| 2001 | CBS | V. Williams | 6.8 | 10.27M | CBS | Hewitt | 5.3 | — |
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
