TV Roundup: 3.3 Overnight Rating, NBC's Classy Goodbye, Joe And Greg Debut Their First Fist-Bump!
/Ed Sherman reports on the U.S. Open final round's 3.3 overnight rating down 46% from last year's 6.1 at Merion when Phil Mickelson battled Justin Rose.
Austin Karp noted on Twitter that the better comparison is to 2011 when Rory McIlroy was a runaway winner. Still a steep drop.
Better comp for US Open: NBC got 5.1 overnight for McIlroy 8-stroke win in 2011. Also on Fathers Day. So this year down 35% compared to that
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) June 16, 2014
Sherman also reviews the telecast and calls NBC's farewell "understated, classy" and says the network deserved better than a runaway winner.
John Strege reviews NBC's final U.S. Open telecast where other than an Inside Baseball jab at the end thanking USGAers David Fay, Mark Carlson, Sandy Tatum but not Mike Davis:
The credits rolled, after which Hicks came on one last time. He noted that NBC had broadcast 650 hours in those 20 years, “and every second of it has been a true labor of love. It has been an honor and privilege to document our national championship of golf for all of you. We’ll miss doing that, but as we bid one last U.S. Open goodbye form Pinehurst, we’ll never forget how much fun this 20-year ride has been. Good night from Pinehurst.”
To its credit, NBC tactfully had avoided any mention of its Open denouement during the golf, leaving the stage to Kaymer. Only once did it hint that the end was in sight.
Karen Crouse stopped in the NBC truck and filed a NY Times look at all that goes on in the control room, profiling the men who headed NBC's broadcasts: Tommy Roy and Tom Randolph.
“Producing 10 hours of live golf is the greatest diet in the world,” Roy said.
His workday starts before he arrives in the truck. Roy stops by the driving range to see what players are wearing, the better to identify them on the monitors. He studies their mannerisms to improve his own performance. That is why Roy doesn’t worry about cutting to a shot of Jim Furyk when he first steps up to a putt: He knows Furyk will back off it.
Roy could empathize with the Open’s 36-hole leader, Martin Kaymer, who said it was not easy playing the first two days with Keegan Bradley, whose pre-shot routine is an elaborate body tic. It’s difficult, Roy said, to perfectly time a cut to a golfer whose pre-shot routine is unpredictable.
“Go to Elvis,” Roy shouted, referring to a deck on a replay machine. For Roy, there is no such thing as a brilliant mistake.
Back to Sunday here at Pinehurst...the past...
And the future...love the overbite for added oomph!
Speaking of fresh and innovative, Buck and Norman appeared live doing a third round recap. Unfortunately, a reader says that version is not the one that made it online. A reader caught it and backed up the DVR and transcribed the scrubbed intro from the studio host to Joe Buck.
It's certainly fresh! Not sure about innovative.
The guy threw it to Buck with this:
"Okay okay we get it. Struggling to find time for the US Open, well with the World Cup, and no Tiger, and a massive lead by a great player, who I am sorry – doesn’t exactly scream excitement.
But what if I told you the leader Martin Kaymer slipped a little, would that get you excited?"
**ESPN's Thursday numbers were only slightly down compared with recent years, which suggest that a blowout had people turning the dial. Or whatever we do these days.
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – 0.9 U.S. rating, average viewership 1,136,473 – compares directly to 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, same time slot, 0.7 U.S. rating, 890,481 average viewership.
2013 – U.S. Open at Merion (PA), weather delay, noon-3 p.m. – 1.0 rating
2010 – U.S. Open at Olympic (San Francisco) – noon- 3p.m. – 1.3 rating
5-7 p.m., the first hour on ESPN2, second hour on ESPN – 1.0 rating, 1,320,858 average viewers
2013 – Merion, on air 5 p.m. – 7:41 p.m. – 1.6 rating
2012 – Olympic, on air 5 p.m. – 10:15 p.m. – 1.3 rating
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – 0.9 U.S. rating, average audience 1,081,929
Down from 2013 U.S. Open at Merion – same time slot – 1.3 rating, 1,672,526 average audience
5-7 p.m. – 1.2 rating, 1,621,291 average audience
Down from 2013 at Merion, same time slot – 1.7 rating, 2,458,378 average audience
