Ratings: U.S. Women's Open Up 92%!

With the dynamic Michelle Wie leading and so many great possibilities Sunday at the 2014 U.S. Women's Open, NBC scored a nice final round rating even with so many other viewing options and a record viewing audience preparing for the U.S-Portugal game.

From NBC/Golf Channel:

- NBC's coverage of the final round of the U.S. Women's Open drew a 1.67 overnight rating in metered markets, up 92% from a year ago (3-6P; 0.87). This was the highest final round overnight at this event since 2007 (3-6:15P; 1.9).

As Karen Crouse notes in the New York Times, the Wie win is the culmination of an unusual year in which the LPGA's stars have risen to the occasion as the PGA Tour's brightest seem to be struggling in the limelight.

The PGA Tour has been stuck in a rut this year, its tournament results a few bright lights shy of a marquee. Phil Mickelson has failed to record a top-10 finish, Rory McIlroy has not posted a victory (though he did win the European Tour’s flagship event last month) and Tiger Woods has missed the first two majors after back surgery.

But the women have staged stirring duels, with Lexi Thompson holding off Wie in the first major and Wie holding off Lewis in the second. Karrie Webb, a Hall of Famer, has won twice, and the 17-year-old phenom Lydia Ko has won once. Inbee Park, the reigning player of the year, and Lewis have taken turns at No. 1.

We talked Wie on Morning Drive and also the success of the back-to-back Opens for the USGA.

As for future back-to-backs, I nominated Torrey Pines as the perfection place to do this again mostly because of its June climate and tourist-friendly locale.

Update on Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 07:53 AM by Geoff

**ESPN was up too...

Most-viewed U.S. Women’s Open on ESPN since 2008 and tied for highest-rated since 2006.
 
In ratings, we were up 100 percent from the last two years – for the two days, we averaged a 0.4 U.S. rating, up from a 0.2 average for both 2012 and 203. Our two-day viewership average was 498,000, up from a two-day average of 229,000 in 2013 and 282,000 in 2012.
 
Per day:
 
Thursday – 0.4 rating and 437,000 viewers –up from 0.2 the last two years and 223,000 viewers (2013) and 260,000 viewers (2013).
 
Friday – 0.4 rating and 559,000 viewers – up from 0.2 in 2013 and 0.3 in 2012, and 235,000 viewers (2013) and 303,000 viewers (2013).

Comments

[Offered]

I have a Leadbetter connection, so was watching Wie finish,
but Pinehurst on television did not translate to me. It was a yawn

[No Longer]

Let's be fair next year when comparing Fox's Women's Open ratings to this "perfect storm".

[metro18]

Pinehurst was perfect because of the no "4 inch rough" USGA setup. The girls can't do that.
If they do it again, then it has to be a Pinehurst type venue.

[Noonan]

Where are all the USGA haters now? And all those people that were certain the course would be horrible after the men? And that this Women's Open would be certain disaster??
Facial haters!

[Media driven]

Guess when you start from under a 1 rating this is cause for great celebration. How did the PGA Tour event do the same week?? Wonder what NBC's highest rated WO was? Prob. the one where Lopez came closest, Pumpkin Ridge.

One aspect that NBC continually ignored was the one-off winners of WO over the years, the Jerilyn Britz-Hillary Lunke type champions that pop up through history. And that two of the LPGA's all-timers, Whitworth and Lopez, never won it.

[tlavin]

Olympia Fields would be a great spot for another back-to-back.

[John Taggart]

It wasn't the course - it was Wei. Just like how Tiger could win on a local muni and still draw higher than this year's US Open.
The stars drive the ratings - and I know that rubs a lot of "real" golf fans the wrong way - but the reality is, if you are talking about broadcasting to millions of people consistently every week, you very quickly exhaust your supply of "real" golf fans.

[shivas]

Didn't the men also get a 1.67 rating