Ratings: Spieth Delivers For CBS; Zurich And Valero Have Rough Years

Paulsen at Sports Media Watch with the good news for CBS’s 2022 RBC Heritage won by Jordan Spieth and viewed by the largest non-Masters audience of 2022.

Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Heritage tournament averaged a 1.9 rating and 3.68 million viewers on CBS Sunday, marking the largest audience for the event since 2003. Jordan Spieth’s win, which peaked with 5.04 million viewers, increased 20% in ratings and 43% in viewership from last year. The previous 19-year mark was 3.46 million for Spieth’s previous win in 2015.

Also noted by Paulsen and this should not be underestimated: “The 19-year high for the Heritage came on the same Easter Sunday in which the NBA scored its largest opening round playoff audience in 20 years.”

CBS had the other highest-rated non-major of the year with the WM Open in February.

The two-man team Zurich Classic fared poorly for CBS despite Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele winning. According to ShowBuzzDaily.com, it drew a 1.16 final round rating on CBS, averaging just 1.8 million viewers, down from 2021’s 1.37/2.1 million avg. Saturday’s third round drew a .96/1.4 million average, a tick down from 2021.

The 2022 ratings news for NBC continues to be uninspired. But at least the Tour can go right down the Global Home hall and ask what’s going on?

The Valero Open prior to the Masters was down a million average viewers (1.45/2.3 million avg.) for Sunday’s final round from 2021 (1.80/3.3 million).