2012 Ryder Cup Ratings Are Up Despite That Rental Car Ad No One Ever Wants To See Again
/From NBC PR:
Sunday #RyderCup on NBC draws 4.1/9 overnight. Up 71% from '10 (2.4/7), up 21% from '08 (3.4/7) and best since '99 (6.3/15 at Brookline).
Nice, but not PGA Tour Playoff numbers. You have to divide by two to get those.
One note: the 2010 Ryder Cup finished on a Monday.
In Golf World Monday I noted that it was a historic week for Golf Channel, with a fantastic Ryder Cup build-up and the kind of thorough coverage core fans have longed for.
But both the NBC and ESPN's telecasts were marred by so many commercials that many on Twitter and in emails suggested they have actually taken a disliking to the companies whose same lame ads ran as many as 20 times over the weekend.
Ultimately, this is not about the networks who can show restraint (and presumably profits) on telecasts with fewer breaks (Players, U.S. Open, Masters). Yet just as with the unwatchable PGA Championship, this is a PGA of America problem. We all know they expect to maximize profit from the game while reminding us they want to grow the game, but to do that you have to let people actually see the golf to fall in love with it.
Oh, and when your President is Tweeting tacky stuff like this on the final day of the Ryder Cup, it never looks good. But it does explain a lot.
**More from NBC PR:
RYDER CUP FINAL ROUND SINCE 1999:
2012 4.1/9, Medinah, Ill.
2010 2.4/7, Newport, Wales
2008 3.4/7, Louisville, Ky.
2006 2.7/8, Kildare, Ireland
2004 3.4/7, Detroit, Mich.
2002 3.9/12, Blefry, England
1999 6.3/15, Brookline, Mass.
TOP 10 MARKETS FOR RYDER CUP FINAL ROUND:
1. West Palm Beach 8.1/16
2. Ft. Myers 7.6/15
3. Greensboro 6.8/13
4. Louisville 6.6/13
5. Chicago 6.5/15
6. Greenville/Spartenburg 6.4/11
7. Detroit 6.0/11
8. Richmond 5.8/10
T9. Columbus 5.4/11
T9. Knoxville 5.4/10
Saturday’s Ryder Cup coverage (9 a.m - 7:45 p.m.) drew a 3.2/8, up 52% from 2010 (2.1/6), up 14% from 2008, and tied 2006 as the best second day for Ryder Cup since 2004 (3.9/9 from Detroit).
**The cable numbers are in...For Immediate Release:
ESPN’s telecast of the first-day matches in the 39th Ryder Cup on Friday, September 28, set records as cable’s highest-rated and most-viewed telecast of the event on record.
With the telecast airing 11.5 hours from 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN earned an average household coverage rating of 1.7 (1.5 U.S. rating) and an average of 1,679,359 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. The rating peaked at a 2.5 in the 6-7 p.m. range.
The highest previous Ryder Cup first-day average cable rating on record was a 1.6 on the USA Network for the 2004 event. That telecast averaged 1,394,064 viewers.
Revised by ESPN...
ESPN’s Ryder Cup Telecast Sets Cable Viewership Record
With more than 3.2 million people watching at the peak, ESPN’s telecast of the first-day matches in the 39th Ryder Cup on Friday, September 28, was cable’s most-viewed Ryder Cup telecast on record.
ESPN earned an average of 1,984,853 viewers and an average household coverage rating of 1.7 (1.5 U.S. rating) during the 11.5-hour telecast, according to the Nielsen Company. Viewership and ratings peaked at 7 p.m. ET with 3,289,047 watching and a 2.6 rating. ESPN’s telecast aired from 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
The highest previous Ryder Cup first-day average cable viewership on record was 1,735,295 on the USA Network in 1999.
