The PGA Championship got off to a modestly better start than last year. In other news, the Buffalo Bills opened their preseason on a lower note, and NFL Network again outdrew each of its preseason games a year ago.
Modest Bump For Round 1 of PGA
- Opening round coverage of the PGA Championship earned 1.1 million viewers on TNT Thursday, up 9% from last year (977K) but down 24% from 2015 (1.4M). That trails the opening rounds of the U.S. Open on Fox Sports (1.2M) and The Masters on ESPN (2.1M), but tops the British Open on Golf Channel, which aired mostly during the early morning hours (546K).
Bills Alone in Posting Preseason Decline
- Thursday’s Vikings-Bills NFL preseason game earned a 20.0 rating on Buffalo ABC affiliate WKBW, down 1% from the team’s first preseason game last year against Indianapolis (20.3) and down 8% from its 2015 opener against Carolina (21.8). The Bills were the exception to a leaguewide rebound in preseason ratings, which sank last year due to the Olympics. According to Fox Sports executive Michael Mulvihill, 15 of 16 NFL markets have posted increases for preseason games this through Thursday — making Buffalo the odd market out.
NFL Network Continues to Outpace Last Year’s Preseason
- NFL Network scored a 1.1 rating and 1.8 million viewers for Thursday’s Broncos-Bears preseason game, its largest preseason audience since Packers-Steelers on a Sunday afternoon two years ago (2.6M). NFL Network’s two preseason games thus far have outdrawn each of its 16 windows last year.
[Numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 8.11, Buffalo News 8.11, Michael Mulvihill/Twitter 8.11]
