There is no end in sight to the PGA Tour’s ratings woes.
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour at Colonial earned a 1.4 final rating and 2.0 million viewers on CBS last Sunday, down 26% in ratings and 31% in viewership from last year (1.9, 2.9M) and down 26% and 28% respectively from 2015 (1.9, 2.8M).
Kevin Kisner‘s win, in which Jordan Spieth tied for second, was the lowest rated and least-watched final round of the tournament since 2014 (1.3, 1.8M).
Excluding New Orleans and Houston, which were both affected by rain, ratings and viewership have now declined for the past 15 final round windows on broadcast. The last increase — and the only one — was at Torrey Pines in January. 14 of the 15 windows have declined double-digits in one or both measures, and 10 have hit multi-year lows.
Third round action last Saturday earned a 1.0 and 1.6 million, down 23% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year (1.3, 1.8M). Compared to 2015, ratings dropped a tick but viewership increased 2% from a 1.1 and 1.5 million.
Including third round windows, viewership has declined for the past 26* PGA Tour rounds on broadcast. Ratings have dropped for 24 of the 26 (two telecasts were flat).
Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel had a 0.29 (-31%) and 399,000 (-34%) on Saturday and a 0.43 (-16%) and 636,000 (-13%).
* Excludes third and final rounds at New Orleans and final round at Houston.
[Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily 6.2]
