Quail Hollow Draws Best Rating Since '15, Second Best Sports Event Sunday

Another positive ratings story for the PGA Tour, as CBS's final round broadcast of the Wells Fargo Championship drew a 2.2 overnight rating for Jason Day's win over Aaron Wise, reports SBD's Austin Karp. That's up from a 1.6 last year when Brian Harman outlasted Dustin Johnson and Roberto Castro.

The rating put PGA Tour golf behind only the NBA Western Conference Semifinals game four between the Warriors and Pelicans (4.1).

Saturday's Kentucky Derby on NBC won the weekend with a 9.1 overnight rating.

Intriguing Tussling: Sky Sports And The Masters

The Guardian's Ewan Murray says all is not rosy between The Masters and Sky Sports--exemplified in part by this year's late renewal of the 2017 edition. 

While this tussling is of seemingly no interest to American audiences, the move to a Sky/BBC split was part of a series of efforts by major championships and the people who own their rights to align with Sky and Fox for broadcasts. Both paid handsomely to strengthen their offerings, but have suffered financial losses and criticism for not reaching enough eyeballs. The Masters currently is seen live on Sky and on BBC for recap shows.

This all gains more intrigue when Fox and Comcast (Murdoch and Roberts) are attempting to purchase Sky, with Fox already owning a big stake and Comcast making what amounts to a hostile bid. 

Murray writes:

The standoff for the 2018 Masters meant it took Sky until January to confirm it had secured rights. They were, however, only for a single year. When the Masters took place, Sky’s top brass – as was customary before – chose not to attend. If matters are to be patched up once more, it appears likely this will again be a late call.

(Booth) Bifurcation At The U.S. Open!

The Forecaddie says Fox is taking a different approach to the U.S. Open this year at Shinnecock Hills, with two lead teams(ish) featuring Joe Buck and Paul Azinger, along with another team of Shane Bacon and Brad Faxon.

Loomis explained what viewers can expect to see at Shinnecock Hills in June: “On Thursday and Friday at the U.S. Open there will be hours when it’s just Shane and Brad, and hours where it’s just Joe and Paul. On the weekend, there will be times where Joe and Paul will get two holes, Nos. 1 and 2, and Brad and Shane will get two holes, Nos. 3 and 4. It adds up to 10 holes for Joe and Paul, eight for Brad and Shane. Because people don’t see us all year, it allowed us to be a little simpler in figuring out who’s talking for the viewer.”

Congrats to Shane on the big vote of confidence! It must be the Shotmakers bounce!

Valero Texas Open Lands Best Rating Since 2014

Ok so a 1.7 for the 2018 Valero Texas Open final round isn't going to be cited as a sign of post-Tiger hope or even the inevitable and obvious audience growth impact of #LiveUnderPar, but given a very strong weekend for NBA playoff action on TNT and no major stars in the Valero field, CBS must be pleased to have the Andrew Landry win show an increase.

Austin Karp with the weekend roundup for SBD.

Weekend's 2018 Masters Ratings Up 24% And 16% For CBS

Saturday's third round of the 2018 Masters saw a nice increase while Sunday's finale with Patrick Reed and Rory McIlroy in the final group was up 16%. 

We see ratings increase numbers like that all the time, but when it's The Masters that means we're talking about a lot more eyeballs, two million to be exact: 13.027 million average television viewers versus 11.051 million last year.

Also note the streaming numbers at the very end.

CBS SPORTS’ 2018 MASTERS THIRD-ROUND COVERAGE EARNS RATINGS INCREASE OF 24%

CBS Sports’ third-round coverage of the 2018 Masters on Saturday, April 7, earned an average household metered market rating/share of 5.7/13, up 24% from last year’s 4.6/11.

This year’s third-round rating peaked with a 6.1/14 rating/share from 5:45-6:00 PM, ET and a 6.1/13 from 6:15-6:30 PM, ET.  

Top Five Rated Markets:

1. Ft Myers-Naples – 10.1/22
2. Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville- 10.0/18
3. Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem- 9.7/17
4. Dayton- 9.6/18
. Louisville- 9.3/18

And Sunday's news...

CBS SPORTS’ 2018 FINAL-ROUND MASTERS COVERAGE DELIVERS INCREASE IN VIEWERSHIP OF 18% 

MASTERS FINAL-ROUND IS HIGHEST-RATED AND MOST-WATCHED GOLF TELECAST SINCE MASTERS IN 2015

DIGITAL STREAMS OF ENTIRE TOURNAMENT DRAW RECORD VIEWERSHIP

CBS Sports’ final-round coverage of the 2018 Masters on Sunday, April 8 was seen by an average of 13.027 million television viewers on CBS, an increase of 18% from last year’s final round (11.051 million), according to Nielsen live plus same day fast national ratings.

Yesterday’s coverage earned an average national household rating/share of 7.9/18, an increase of 16% from last year’s 6.8/16.

This year’s final round was the highest-rated and most-watched golf telecast since the final round of the Masters in 2015 (8.8/20; 14.231 million viewers).  

The final round peaked with a 9.9/21 rating/share and 16.836 million viewers from 6:15-6:30 PM, ET.  

CBS Sports’ live streaming video coverage of the 2018 Masters Tournament, featuring four channels of golf action available on CBS Sports and Masters digital platforms, drew record viewership with 873 million total minutes of coverage streamed, an increase of 110% from 2017. 

ESPN’s Friday Masters Telecast Up 50 Percent from 2017

Thank you Tiger, who played in the afternoon:

An average of 3.9 million people watched ESPN’s telecast of the second round of the Masters Tournament on Friday, the most-viewed Friday at the Masters since 2013 and an increase of 50 percent over last year’s audience of 2.6 million, according to Nielsen Fast National data.

The second round, which aired from 3 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. ET, ranks as the third most-viewed Friday since ESPN began airing the Masters in 2008.

In addition to being up 50 percent over 2017’s Friday audience, the telecast also was up 28 percent over the audience of 3.1 million for the second round in 2016.

2018 Masters First Round Viewership on ESPN Up 40% From 2017

Pretty impressive bump given that Tiger Woods was not in the afternoon wave for the ESPN window.

Masters First Round Viewership on ESPN Up 40 Percent From 2017

Nearly three million viewers tuned in for ESPN’s telecast of the first round of the Masters Tournament on Thursday, an increase of 40 percent over the Thursday audience of last year, according to Nielsen Fast National data.

The telecast, which aired from 3 p.m. – 7:20 p.m. ET, averaged 2,971,287 viewers, up 40 percent from the 2,129,214 Thursday average in 2017 and up 24 percent from the 2016 Thursday average of 2,397,624.

The telecast ranked as the fourth-best Thursday since ESPN began airing the Masters Tournament in 2008, exceeded only by the years in which Tiger Woods was featured in Thursday coverage (2009, 2010 and 2015). Most of Woods’ round on Thursday had already been completed when ESPN’s telecast began.

The telecast also saw growth across all key demographics, with a 44 percent increase in persons 25-54.

Hello Friends: A Very Special 2018 Jim Nantz Sound-A-Like Contest Entry

The Dan Patrick Show, where Jim Nantz is a regular guest, held their annual sound alike contest as a Masters prelude. Other than the Hello Friends needing refinement, I think you'll enjoy both the sound and the writing. (I'm not sure though if the bird sounds are native to Augusta...)

Have you ever wondered what Jim Nantz does in that 1 lonely minute leading into his Live Masters Monologue?

ESPN+ Launching April 12th, To Include PGA Tour Live Coverage

ESPN has announced the $4.99 a month package of its various properties to address the needs of cord cutters. One surprise element is the inclusion of PGA Tour coverage that sounds suspiciously like PGA Tour Live, the digital-only pre-Golf Channel coverage offered for $40 a year.

This would seem to be signaling a major white flag on PGA Tour Live's ability to sell subscriptions on its own. For $60 a year you can get all of ESPN's properties, vs. $40 a year for early round tour action.

· PGA TOUR LIVE GOLF – MORE THAN 100 DAYS OF COVERAGE FROM 31 PGA TOUR EVENTS: Golf fans will be able to follow the PGA TOUR throughout the year, with more than 100 days of live coverage from 31 PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, the FedEx Cup Playoffs, AT&T Byron Nelson, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational and dozens more. Coverage will include Thursday, Friday and some Saturday and Sunday play during the events.

"Terry Gannon's TV Versatility Rooted In Hoops Past"

He'll be helming the ANA Inspiration's Golf Channel coverage this week with Judy Rankin and also undoubtedly will be thinking about the 35th (!) anniversary of NC State's improbably NCAA basketball championship.

But fresh off his prominent Olympics role, Terry Gannon continues to be the least-recognized top voice in golf. 

Steve Eubanks of Global Golf Post considers what makes Gannon such a solid announcer, including his talent for asking the right questions of his analysts.

Video: It's As If They Knew Eun-Hee Ji's KIA Ace Was Coming

If you didn't hear about Eun-Hee Ji's KIA Classic final round, she hit all 18 greens and made a one at the par-3 14th en route to victory. (Beth Ann Nichols' Golfweek.com game story has the lowdown.)

Besides a car for winning the event, she took home a KIA Sorrento for this shot. But it's the setup by Grant Boone, Judy Rankin and Jerry Foltz that adds to the spectacle of a surreal moment (and a rewarding sponsorship for KIA).

From Morning Drive's recap:

Kelly Says Goodbye: Q&A With Golf Channel's Tilghman

Kelly Tilghman signed off after 22 years at Golf Channel Sunday. 

Here is her goodbye column for GolfChannel.com.

And here is my Golfweek Q&A conducted on eve of her Golf Channel finale. Fans of Kelly will enjoy her reflections and insights into why she's saying goodbye, though her Tiger assessment is just as thought-provoking.

22 years at Golf Channel: A remarkable career. Kelly Tilghman, it's been an incredible run, and we'll see you soon - hopefully on a golf course.

3,795 Likes, 68 Comments - Golf Channel (@golfchannel) on Instagram: "22 years at Golf Channel: A remarkable career. Kelly Tilghman, it's been an incredible run, and..."

Tiger's Ratings Influence Continues During First Two 2018 API Rounds

He even makes people watch the days he's not in the television window!

VIEWERSHIP - RD2 Overnight rating at @APinv yesterday: pic.twitter.com/85g02e4Og8

— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 17, 2018

VIEWERSHIP - RD2 Overnight rating at @APinv yesterday: pic.twitter.com/85g02e4Og8

— Golf Channel PR (@GolfChannelPR) March 17, 2018

Christmas Comes Early Files: Every Final Round Masters Broadcast Since 1968 Now On YouTube!

Some day we'll look back fondly on the years when we'd relive great Masters moments on YouTube watching a jittery cell phone recording of someone's television set. Or not. 

H/T to Sean Zak at Golf.com for alerting us to this incredible treasure trove of broadcasts.

Where to start? It's overwhelming. Here is the menu.

Shoot, might as well go back 50 years ago and work my way up to the present!

Enjoy.

And just for giggles, I screen captured this and will come searching for the number a year from now:

Kelly Tilghman Signing Off After 22 Years At Golf Channel

The Forecaddie with the details of an almost-original cast member who is signing off after 22 years.

One of my first ever television interviews was in 1998 and Kelly was then a Golf Channel reporter. She could not have been more enjoyable to talk to and since then she's always been a class act in my eyes who has handled the unrelenting scrutiny golf projects on women with great dignity.

BTW there will be a Golfweek Q&A with Tilghman next week.