A final four consisting solely of Americans delivered big numbers for the U.S. Open.
The U.S. Open women’s semifinals, Sloane Stephens–Venus Williams and Madison Keys–Coco Vandeweghe, earned 2.0 million viewers on ESPN Thursday night — up 35% from last year (1.45M) and up 42% from 2015, when the semifinals were postponed to Friday afternoon (1.38M). Ratings were not immediately available.
It was the most-watched women’s semifinals at the U.S. Open since at least 2012. This year marked the first time since 1985 that the women’s semis — at any major — consisted solely of U.S. players.
Thursday’s telecast delivered the second-largest audience of this year’s U.S. Open, narrowly trailing the previous night’s primetime window (1.960M to 1.955M). The tournament has now averaged 932,000 viewers across ESPN and ESPN2, up 11% from last year (843K) but down 22% from 2015, when Serena Williams‘ attempt at the calendar Grand Slam boosted the numbers (1.2M).
[Thu. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 9.8]
