For the second-straight day, PGA Championship viewership hit a five-year high.
Friday’s second round of the PGA Championship averaged a 1.2 rating and 1.76 million viewers on ESPN, per Nielsen fast-nationals — marking the tournament’s largest second round audience since 2015 (1.89M) and second-largest since 2013 (1.95M).
The telecast, which peaked with 2.26 million viewers from 7-7:15 PM ET, increased a tick in ratings and 20% in viewership from last year on TNT (1.1, 1.46M). Compared to the last time the PGA Championship took place in August two years ago, viewership increased 28% from 1.38 million.
Viewership stayed above the two million mark from 6-10 PM, as Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy competed.
The PGA Championship is now averaging 1.51 million viewers through two rounds, up 21% from last year and a five-year high. As previously noted, Thursday’s opening round was the most-watched since 2015 and second-most watched since 2010.
Viewership is up even higher among adults 18-49, rising 37% to 349,000.
West Palm Beach, Fla., led all markets Friday with a 2.5 rating, followed by Tampa-St. Petersburg (2.2). Host market the Bay Area tied with Charlotte for third (2.2). Las Vegas and San Diego tied for fifth (2.0).
This year’s PGA Championship is the first to take place on the West Coast since 1998 and, as such, stretches into East Coast primetime.
[Nielsen estimates from ESPN, ESPN PR 8.8]
