Ryder Cup Ratings Dive On Time Difference, Live Coverage

As much as we loved having the chance to watch the excess of commercial breaks live instead of on tape delay with our DVR's, ratings for the Ryder Cup took a big drop compared to the domestic 2012 event when the telecasts aired at a more civilized hour in much of the States.

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch with a report that doesn't fully consider the differences between 2014 and 2012, but still notes many near historic ratings lows for the 2014 event that, it should be noted, saw unprecedented live coverage from Europe in terms of hours and a first-ever absence of tape-delay.

NBC earned a 1.6 final rating and 2.2 million viewers for Sunday coverage of the Ryder Cup, down 58% in ratings and 60% in viewership from 2012 (3.8, 6.0M) and down 24% in both measures from 2010, the last time the tournament took place from Europe (2.1, 2.9M).

Saturday coverage drew a 1.4 and 1.9 million, down 53% in ratings and 55% in viewership from 2012 and down 22% and 27%, respectively, from 2010 (1.8, 2.6M). This year marked the first time that NBC has aired live Saturday coverage of a European Ryder Cup.

This year’s tournament produced the two lowest rated Ryder Cup telecasts since at least 1997, and almost certainly the two lowest rated ever on NBC (dates back to 1991). Individual ratings prior to ’97 were not available, but NBC’s two-day coverage averaged a 2.5 rating in 1991, a 3.8 in 1993 and a 4.1 in 1995 — making it unlikely that any individual telecast dipped as low as this year’s 1.4 and 1.6.

Golf Channel averaged a 0.5 rating for 11 hours of day one coverage on Friday, down 67% from the 2012 tournament on ESPN (1.5). Keep in mind the 2012 Ryder Cup took place in the U.S. and thus had a much better timeslot; ESPN aired coverage from 8:00-7:30 PM ET, compared to 2:30 AM-1:30 PM on Golf Channel this year.

Golf Channel's press release uses better short term comparisions, especially as it relates to Friday's coverage.

In total, the three days of coverage on Golf Channel and NBC, in which the European team defeated the U.S. team, 16 ½ to 11 ½ , reached more than 18.5 million unique viewers, which represents 12.5% of U.S. TV households, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.
 
Ryder Cup Day One: Golf Channel

·         Golf Channel’s Day One coverage marked the network’s debut as the exclusive Day One U.S. television source of this international rivalry. Golf Channel ranked as the No. 1 rated and most-watched sports network on Friday after the network posted its highest-rated total day in three years, and second-highest rated day of all time, with a delivery of a 0.37 U.S. HH RTG and 494,000 viewers per minute. This rating was +517% vs. comparable coverage in 2012 from Medinah Country Club in Illinois; +640% vs. 2010 from Celtic Manor Resort in Wales; and +517% vs. 2006 from The K Club in Ireland.

·         Golf Channel’s Day One live coverage, from 2:30 a.m. to 1:27 p.m. ET, delivered a 0.52 U.S. HH RTG across 11 hours of coverage, peaking at a 0.81 U.S. HH RTG for the last hour.

·         The last three hours of Golf Channel’s coverage from 10:30 a.m. to 1:27 p.m. ET was up 6% (0.76 U.S. HH RTG) and higher for average viewers (979,000) versus comparable live Ryder Cup coverage in 2010 on ESPN from 11:50 a.m. to 2:11 p.m ET (0.72 U.S. HH RTG; 976,000). Since ESPN’s coverage in 2010 was interrupted by rain earlier in the telecast, these windows of live golf serve as the best head-to-head comparison of past live coverage of a Ryder Cup Day One hosted at a European venue.
 
 
Ryder Cup Day Two:

·         Golf Channel on NBC’s live coverage of Saturday’s matches delivered a 1.4 U.S. HH RTG, 1.9 million average viewers (7 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET). This is the first time live coverage was provided of Day Two of the Ryder Cup from a European venue, therefore there are no comparables.

·         Golf Channel on NBC’s live Day Two coverage was the most-watched, non-football sports telecast on Saturday.
 
Ryder Cup Day Three:

·         Golf Channel on NBC’s live coverage of Sunday’s matches delivered a 1.6 U.S. HH RTG, 2.2 million average viewers (7 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. ET).

·         Golf Channel on NBC’s live Day Three coverage was the second most-watched, non-football sports telecast on Sunday, behind ESPN’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Dover 400, which aired partially in primetime