Back on the West Coast, and at Pebble Beach no less, the US Open got off to a stronger start in the Nielsens.
Opening round coverage of the US Open averaged 1.99 million viewers across FOX and FS1 Thursday, up 43% from last year (1.39M), up 71% from 2017 (1.16M), and the highest day one average in at least a decade. Compared to the previous West Coast US Open in 2015, viewership increased 2% from 1.95 million.
Primetime coverage had a 2.3 rating and 3.47 million viewers across FOX and FS1, up 53% in ratings and 61% in viewership from last year (1.5, 2.15M), and up 130% and 128% respectively from 2017 (1.0, 1.52M), both of which aired on FOX alone. FOX aired traditional coverage, while FS1 aired a featured group simulcast that had 1.14 million.
The combined audience, which peaked at 3.99 million from 8-8:15 PM ET, ranks as the largest for opening round coverage on broadcast TV since 2002. Prior to FOX acquiring rights, broadcast network coverage of the weekday rounds aired during the afternoon.
Viewership hit a high despite considerable competition from Game 6 of the NBA Finals (10.7, 18.34M).
Daytime coverage on FS1 had 1.38 million viewers, up 30% from last year (1.06M), and the largest opening round audience on cable since 2015 (1.54M).
[Numbers from Fox Sports PR; Nielsen via Programming Insider 6.14]
