Ratings Roundup: ESPN's PGA Championship Coverage Becomes Most-Watched Since 2010; CBS Captures Most-Watched Golf Telecast Since June 2019 By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor Tuesday, August 11, 2020 - 9:00 am
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Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the PGA Championship this past weekend became the most-watched edition since 2010, Univision scores record ratings in the return of UEFA Champions League, the New York Yankees on YES helps the network gain positive numbers, and more.
Golf Fans Come in Troves for Most-Watch PGA Championship in 10 Years
For this past weekend's PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, CBS Sports' final-round coverage became the most-watched sports event of this week and most-watched golf telecast since June of last year. The broadcast averaged 5.16 million viewers, which is a 3% from 2019, and peaked with 6.87 million viewers from 8:30-8:45 p.m. ET.
On other networks, ESPN's live coverage finished as the most-viewed edition of the event on cable since 2010, with younger viewers helping drive increases in several important demographics.
Sunday's final round coverage, which aired from noon until 3 p.m. ET, averaged 1,965,000 viewers, up 60% over TNT's final-round telecast from 2019 and the most-viewed final round on cable since 2010. Sunday's telecast peaked at 2.4 million viewers and was above 2 million from 1:15 - 3 p.m.
Across all four rounds, ESPN averaged 1,659,000 viewers and 399,000 viewers in the ages 18-49 demographic, up 35% and 54%, respectively, from TNT's coverage last year. In addition to being the most-viewed PGA Championship on cable since 2010, ESPN's average of ages 18-49 viewers was up 40% over the past five years.
Younger viewers helped drive the increases - viewership among adults ages 18-34 was up 76% from 2019 and this was the most-viewed version of the championship on cable in the demographic since 2009.
Top local markets for the final round telecast with metered market rating:
West Palm Beach (2.6)
Tampa - St. Petersburg/Indianapolis (2.4)
Columbus (2.3)
Cleveland (2.2)
Greenville-Spartanburg/Denver/San Francisco/Atlanta (2.0)
Orlando/Phoenix/Portland (1.9)
For third-round coverage, the network averaged 2,028,000 viewers, a 71% increase over TNT's third-round coverage in 2019. The telecast, which aired from 1-4 p.m. ET from TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, was the most-viewed PGA Championship third round on cable since 2005 and ranks as cable's fourth most-viewed on record. Gains were even greater among young adults (ages 18-49) with the viewership average of 532,000 up 101% in that demographic over last year. During the three-hour telecast, the audience peaked at 2,359,000 viewers between 3:15 - 3:30 p.m. and viewership did not drop below 2 million at any time between 2-4 p.m.
For second-round coverage, ESPN attracted an average audience of 1,763,000 viewers, the event's largest second round viewership since 2015 and an increase of 20% over TNT's telecast of the second round last year. The numbers continued the momentum ESPN established with its live coverage of the first round on Thursday, which averaged 1,246,000 viewers, making it the event's most-viewed first-round telecast since 2015 and the second-best opening round in the last 10 years. Friday's telecast was up 42% in viewership from Thursday's first round. With golf superstars including Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, and Rory McIlroy in competition during East Coast prime time, ESPN's audience built early in their rounds and peaked with 2,260,000 viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET. The telecast, which ran from 4-10:45 p.m., averaged more than 2 million viewers from 6-10 p.m.
For first-round coverage, the network garnered 1,246,000 viewers, making it the event's most-viewed first-round telecast since 2015 and the second-best opening round in the last 10 years. The telecast, which ran from 4-10:30 p.m. ET, peaked at 1,509,000 viewers between 7:15-7:30 p.m. ET and every quarter-hour of the telecast until 10 p.m. averaged more than 1 million viewers. Viewership was up 24% from last year's first-round telecast on TNT and up 31% among adults ages 18-49.
After the conclusion of this tournament, the PGA Tour is continuing its hot streak since its return. According to SportsBusiness Journal, CBS is averaging 2.46 million viewers for its weekend coverage since June - a figure that is up 27% from comparable events last year. Golf Channel's overall PGA Tour viewership is up 47% from comparable events last year.
Univision's TUDN Gets Ratings Boost for UEFA Champions League Return
Following a nearly five-month hiatus, UEFA Champions League returned with a resounding bang on Univision's networks featuring play from the Round of 16.
TUDN's telecast of FC Barcelona vs. Napoli on Univision, and simulcast on TUDN, this past Saturday generated record numbers, averaging 1.1 million Total Viewers 2 from 3 p.m. 5 p.m. ET marking the most-watched Round of 16 match in UEFA Champions League history in the U.S. on any network and in any language. Among Adults 18-49, the two-hour telecast averaged 545,000 viewers to net the second best performance ever in the demo for a UCL Round of 16 contest. The match peaked with 1.14 million Total Viewers 2 and 587,000 Adults 18-49 during the 4:30 p.m. 5 p.m. ET time period. It is the top-rated UEFA Champions League match in the 2019/2020 season.
Friday's Manchester City-Real Madrid broadcast on UniM s and simulcast on TUDN delivered 571,000 Total Viewers 2 and 345,000 Adults 18-49 from 3 p.m. 5 p.m. ET, becoming the sixth and eighth most-watched contest ever in the
