Improved Round Two 2014 Masters Ratings, Still Way Down
/Round two of the 2014 Masters did better than round one, but was still down 40% from last year's record-audience in round two when Tiger was on the air throughout the telecast.
ESPN’s live telecast of the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, April 11, earned a 1.8 U.S. household rating, averaging 2.5 million viewers, according to fast national data from Nielsen Media. The telecast aired from 3-7:30 p.m. ET.
The rating and viewership rose from the first day of the event, which earned a 1.5 rating and averaged 2 million viewers, but did not surpass ESPN’s record-setting Friday from last year’s event. In 2013, ESPN had its highest-rated and most-viewed Friday telecast since it began airing the Masters in 2008, averaging a 3.0 U.S. household rating and 4.2 million viewers.
Over the two days of Masters telecasts, ESPN averaged a 1.6 U.S. household rating and 2.2 million viewers, both down from last year’s averages of a 2.5 rating and 3.5 million viewers.
“With its iconic nature and grand tradition, the Masters is one of the world’s great and beloved sporting events and as recently as last year, our viewers have responded to the Masters in record numbers,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice president, production and programming. “While viewership was down this year, the Masters has a value to us that goes well beyond ratings.”