With Tiger Woods back in the field, British Open viewership hit a three-year high Thursday. In other news, last weekend’s John Deere Classic also hit a three-year high, MLB drew its top weeknight audience since Opening Day, and the NBA Summer League Final sank against the MLB All-Star Game.
Open Opens With Three-Year High
Not including the overnight hours, Thursday’s opening round of the British Open had 851,000 viewers on Golf Channel — up 23% from last year (693K), up 4% from 2016 (818K) and the highest average since ESPN last carried the event in 2015 (1.2M). Not coincidentally, 2015 was also the last year Tiger Woods played in the event.
PGA John Deere Posts Increase
Final round coverage of last weekend’s PGA Tour John Deere Classic earned a 1.1 rating and 1.72 million viewers on CBS, flat in ratings and up 3% in viewership from last year (1.1, 1.67M) and up 57% and 54% respectively from 2016, when coverage aired opposite the Olympic golf tournament (0.7, 1.1M). It was the highest rated and most-watched round of the event since 2015 (2.2, 3.4M).
Third round action last Saturday had a 0.9 (+13%) and 1.2 million (+2%).
Cards-Cubs Hits Weeknight High
Thursday’s Cardinals-Cubs Major League Baseball game had a 1.1 rating and 1.7 million viewers on ESPN, the largest audience for a weeknight regular season game Opening Day (Giants-Dodgers: 2.0M). The Cubs’ win was the only MLB game on the schedule and aired exclusively on ESPN.
Bummer Summer League Final For ESPN
Tuesday’s Trail Blazers-Lakers NBA Summer League final had a 0.31 rating and 456,000 viewers on ESPN, down 47% in ratings and 45% in viewership from the same matchup last year (0.58, 836K). Unlike last year, this year’s final aired opposite the MLB All-Star Game. Compared to the 2016 Bulls-T’Wolves final, which aired on ESPN2, ratings increased 24% (from 0.25) and viewership 25% (from 366K).
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 7.17, 7.20; Programming Insider 7.18]
