NBC: 2021 Open Final Round "TAD" Up 10% Over 2019, No Thanks To Streaming

I did a full breakdown of The Open’s ratings in the free-weekly Quadrilateral, and thanks to SportsMediaWatch.com’s Paulsen sharing the actual Nielsen ratings vs. NBC’s “total audience delivery” factoring in other ways folks see the coverage, we get to see just how few stream golf.

That’s kind of important for the sport to recognize at some point in the hard push to turn television viewers into streamers, even (A) the technology is still not there (B) golf is a background sport and a passive viewing experience except for the last holes of a tournament. Since no one has made the streaming experience as simple as hitting the power button and a number, with the option to come and go easily, it will continue to be a less enjoyable viewing experience for live events.

I digress.

It looks like the 2021 Open delivered a generally solid showing given the number of weekend hours NBC carried coverage. For Immediate Release:

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 20, 2021 – NBC Sports’ comprehensive coverage of the 149th Open Championship at Royal St George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England, delivered across-the-board viewership gains for NBC and GOLF Channel vs. 2019.

Across more than 40 hours of live championship coverage on NBC and GOLF Channel, the Open Championship produced a Total Audience Delivery of 2.148 million viewers, up 8% vs. the 2019 Open coverage (1.983 million TAD) and up 27% vs. the most-recent Open Championship at Royal St George’s in 2011 (1.697 million TV-only). Sunday’s Final Round coverage on NBC delivered a TAD of 4.169 million viewers, up 10% vs. 2019 (3.784 million). 

Early Round viewership on GOLF Channel drew a TAD of 1.069 million viewers, up slightly vs. 2019 (1.065 million) to rank as the second most-watched Early Rounds on GOLF Channel in five years.

Of course, The Open’s only been on Golf Channel since 2016 so…

As I noted in The Quadrilateral’s wrap up, had a better week being off site than in Kent, with what seemed like more willingness to tackle a few subjects head on. You know, topics that are now avoided during PGA Tour coverage in fear of the red phone ringing. From the press release:

Week-long pre- and post-game Live From The Open coverage on GOLF Channel averaged 148,000 viewers, up 24% vs. 2019 to rank the most-watched week of Live From The Open since 2017 (161,000 viewers).