CBS Scores Ratings Spike In Spite Of Awful Coverage
Despite relentlessly plugging CBS shows and having almost nothing prepared to tell us more about Y.E. Yang, the network scored the highest PGA ratings since 2002.
RATINGS SOAR AS CBS SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF 2009 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP RANKS AS HIGHEST-RATED FINAL ROUND SINCE 2002
Final Round Rating Up 150% From Last Year
CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the 2009 PGA Championship on Sunday, Aug. 16, which saw Y.E. Yang overtake Tiger Woods, scored in the ratings by earning an average overnight household rating/share of 7.5/17, up +150%, ranking it the highest-rated final round of the PGA Championship in the metered markets since 2002 when Rich Beem beat Woods (8.0/17).
CBS Sports' final-round coverage of the 2009 PGA Championship was up +150% from 2008’s 3.0/6, and up +10% from 2007’s 6.8/15. Sunday’s final-round rating peaked at an 11.6/24 from 7:00-7:15, PM, ET.
This year’s PGA Championship final round was the second highest-rated of the four majors on Sunday in 2009:
Masters Final Round - 8.8/21 (CBS)
U.S. Open Third Round/Start of Final Round - 5.1/12 (NBC)
British Open - 3.9/12 (ABC)
CBS Sports' third-round coverage of the 2009 PGA Championship on Saturday, Aug. 15 earned an overnight household rating/share in the metered markets of 4.9/13, up +390% from last year’s rain-delay coverage which earned a 1.0/2; and up +7% compared to a 4.6/12 in 2007. Saturday’s third-round rating peaked at 5.6/13 from 6:30-7:00 PM, ET.
This year’s PGA Championship third round was the second highest-rated of the four majors on Saturday in 2009:
Masters Third Round - 5.7/13 (CBS)
U.S. Open Second/Third round - 3.7/9 (NBC)
British Open - 2.4/7 (ABC)
* * * * *
CBS Sports’ two-day average for the 2007 PGA Championship earned an average household overnight rating/share of 6.2/15.
Overall, this year’s 6.2/15 ties with 1999 as the third-highest rating for the PGA Championship two-day average in the metered markets dating back to 1986. This year’s 6.2/15 tied with 1999 (6.2/16) (Tiger’s first PGA Championship win); and trailed 2000’s 8.0/19 (Tiger’s second PGA Championship win) and 2002’s 6.7/15.
This year’s 6.2/15 also is the second-best two-day average for the PGA Championship in the metered markets since a 6.7/15 in 2002.
Sadly, the relentless plugs for the 60 Minutes interview--including the video clip as the leaders were on the dangerous 16th hole--paid off with a ratings bump for the show. Warms my heart that the fourth major continues to serve as a strong lead-in for 60 Minutes.
At Golfweek.com Martin Kaufman notes that "as long as CBS stayed on the air this past weekend, it was certain to post through-the-roof ratings," yet after that flattery, calls the coverage "perfectly serviceable, if unspectacular."
If that's serviceable, we're in trouble.
I'm going to venture to guess that if NBC were handling the PGA, we would have gotten far more on Y.E. Yang. Probably a Tim Rosaforte "tour insider" segment talking to a studio host about the man, all the while adding a bit of dignity to the proceedings by simply having a host to give the announce team time for a bathroom break.
What we got was mostly a lot of Tiger talk with the assumption that Yang would collapse like so many other past challengers, sandwiched into standard tour event faire like FedEx Cup standings, Cialis-sponsored flashbacks and almost no sense of urgency.
And while NBC certainly slips in their share of promos, I'm pretty sure they would not go to a video clip of a convicted dog killer as the two leaders reached a wild, wacky, weird, and dare I say it, the dreaded signature hole.
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 08:15 PM
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Reader Comments (9)
Jeez, I feel sorry for you Americans - compared to the BBC and Sky Sports, the coverage was execrable. Ad break after ad break, loads of Tiger chat, but no coverage of anyone else. Dull, uninspiring, and pedestrian. I feel for you, I really do.
The trend in sports coverage these days is "MORE!!!" (as in: more commentators, more chatter, more hype, more cross-platform promotion, more commercials, more coverage of incidental goings on (TMZ-style footage of people getting off buses, out of cars, walking into stadiums,etc), more graphics, more 'essays', more on-course reports, more interviews, more video lead-ins, more logos on the screen, and so on). You'll notice the only thing missing on the list is 'more live footage of the competition being broadcast'. This is a major problem for all sports, not just golf.
I keep saying it, but eventually someone will realize that this emphasis on 'more' is negatively impacting the bottom line (Hey, we could have left Jim Huber at home and STILL had the same rating? Hmm, let me look at this budget...). Once that happens, we'll hopefully see things move more toward the famed (and mythical) BBC style coverage that gets frequently mentioned around here.