Even with Tiger Woods surging up the leaderboard, Friday’s Masters ratings fell short of last year’s levels.
Second round coverage of the Masters earned a 2.3 rating and 3.2 million viewers on ESPN, per Nielsen fast-nationals — down 12% in ratings and 18% in viewership from last year (2.6, 3.9M), but up 28% and 23% respectively from 2017 (1.8, 2.6M). Figures exclude a half-hour weather delay.
Ratings and viewership trailed only last year as the highest for the second round of the Masters since 2013 (3.0, 4.2M).
Overall, of the 24 Masters telecasts in ESPN history, Friday’s ranks tenth in ratings and no worse than 11th in viewership.
Woods ended the day in a tie for sixth and just two shots off the lead. Last year, he finished the second round in a tie for 40th, barely making the cut. Keep in mind that last year marked Woods’ return to the Masters after a two-year absence, a factor that likely made up for his poor play.
Greenville, S.C., led all markets with a 5.0 rating. It was also the top market for Thursday’s opening round (4.6). Ft. Myers, Fla., ranked second Friday with a 4.7. Minneapolis-St. Paul (4.2), Raleigh-Durham (4.1) and Buffalo (3.7) rounded out the top five.
[Numbers from ESPN]
