ESPN's 2019 Masters Second Round Draws 3.2 Million, Down From 3.9 Last Year

Guess the Tiger factor isn’t what it used to be, or streaming is eating into overall numbers, or Masters streaming has caused a downtick? Or all of the above?

For Immediate Release:

ESPN’s Second Round Masters Tournament Telecast Attracts 3.2 Million Viewers

ESPN’s telecast of the second round of the Masters Tournament on Friday, April 12, averaged 3.2 million viewers as golf fans tuned in to watch a charge by Tiger Woods on the second nine highlighting a fierce battle of golf stars at the top of the leaderboard. The telecast aired from 3-7:45 p.m. ET from Augusta National Golf Club.

The 3.2 million average, based on Nielsen Fast National data, was ESPN’s second-largest audience for the second round since 2013, exceeded only by the 3.9 million that watched last year. The viewership average does not include the rain delay that halted play from 5:03 – 5:34 p.m. on Friday. 

Friday’s audience was up significantly from 2017 (2.6 million) and 2016 (3.0 million), the last two years that Woods did not compete in the Masters due to injuries. It also was higher than 2015 (3.0 million, with Woods in competition) and 2014 (2.5 million when Woods missed the Masters for the first time in his career). 

For the second day, the Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., market led the nation’s metered markets with a 5.0 rating, up from the 4.6 rating in the market on Thursday for the first round. Other top 10 markets for Friday were Ft. Myers/Naples, Fla., 4.7; Minneapolis-St. Paul, 4.2; Raleigh-Durham, 4.1; Buffalo, 3.7; Indianapolis, Columbus and Cincinnati, tied at 3.4; and Tampa-St. Petersburg and West Palm Beach, tied at 3.3.