2021 Masters Ratings: 5.52, 9.45 Million Average Audience For CBS
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There’ll be quite a bit of alarm over the Masters all-time low ratings but I’d argue we are just seeing the effect of a star power void and increased streaming.
Yes, the ratings are the lowest for a springtime playing since Nielsen has been tracking, but still hit an average audience of 9.4 million/5.52 rating with a peak of 12.89 million as Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele got to the finishing holes. That would make it the most watched golf tournament since the 2019 Masters.
Let’s throw out 2020 (November) and 2019 (Tiger/early start to beat storms) for comparison purposes:
2018: 13.027 million average on a 7.9 rating for Patrick Reed’s win.
2017: 11.05 million average on a 6.8 rating for Sergio Garcia’s win.
A drop but CBS believes when all the numbers are in that this will the second-most streamed Masters other than 2019’s Woods win. With more cordcutting and three working options for viewing online or via apps, a nice chunk of the slide can be attributed to the better-than-most streaming options.
Also not helping: the languid pace of play (4:20 rounds) and the lack of any serious charges at Matsuyama until late. With many parts of the country reopening I’m sure CBS lost viewers to people happy to be out and about.
That said, this is a fine opportunity for all involved to also acknowledge golf’s “product” and star power issues in the post-Tiger era. Addressing this is no easy task and the PGA Tour is showing no signs of trying, believing if you just repeat the word “athletes” enough it’ll all work out in the end.
So it’ll be on the governing bodies to tighten up some equipment rules that might reward the most skilled, keep stars in the limelight just a bit more and shorten the length of rounds. One thing clear from the week: the ratings cannot be blamed on a lack of viewing options or production values.
On the Golf Channel front, going back to a comparable schedule in 2018 you can see the impact of multiple forces on the “Live From” show: increased ESPN presence, a larger streaming viewership and no real reason to watch with better alternatives. Weekend shows in 2018 prior to CBS live coverage hovered around 1.5 million viewers. This year, well less than half that many tuned in for a couple of shows earlier in the day before tuning out, focusing on streaming or going out for some golf.
2018’s ratings:
Golf Channel sent out an odd April Fools-tinged press release to tout their Live From ratings as the most-watched Masters daily preview show.
There are only two and one spends more time cover other sports than the golf.
The release also compared numbers to the totally incomparable fall 2020 Masters.*
GOLF CHANNEL’S LIVE FROM THE MASTERS COVERAGE WAS MOST-WATCHED DAILY PREVIEW SHOW ON ANY NETWORK DURING MASTERS WEEK
Live From… Viewership for Full Masters Week UP 46% from 2020 and On Par with 2019, Which Featured Tiger Woods’ Historic Victory
Live From… Shows Ahead of Thursday’s Opening Round and Sunday’s Final Round Rank as GOLF Channel’s Most Watched on Respective Days Since 2018
STAMFORD, Conn. – April 13, 2021 – NBC Sports’ Live From the Masters coverage on GOLF Channel was the most-watched daily Masters preview programming on any network from Monday, April 5 through Sunday, April 11, according to official national data provided by Nielsen.
Live From the Masters daily preview coverage averaged 437,000 viewers for the full Masters week from Monday through Sunday*. For Thursday through Sunday coverage before each Masters round, Live From averaged 633,000 viewers, outperforming the closest competition by 67%.
Live From’s full-week average of 437,000 viewers topped by 46% the show’s average during November’s 2020 Masters (299,000) and was on par with the 2019 Masters (442,000), when Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket and first major in more than a decade.
Additional viewership highlights from GOLF Channel’s Masters week coverage:
GOLF Channel’s average viewership for Masters week programming from Monday-Sunday (6 a.m.-3 a.m. ET) was up 50% vs. November 2020.
Extended Live From the Masters coverage on Thursday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET averaged 463,000 viewers – marking the largest audience for the show ahead of a Masters opening round since 2018.
Live From the Masters on Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET delivered an average of 697,000 viewers – ranking as the best figure ahead of a Masters final round since 2018.
In total, NBC Sports presented more than 55 hours of Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club last week as Hideki Matsuyama finished 10-under to secure his first Masters championship, marking his first major title and becoming the first Japanese man to win a major championship.
*Based upon regularly scheduled Live From… windows (Monday, 2-5 p.m. ET, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Sunday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET)
*Asterisks in a press release…never good.
