NBC's Ryder Cup Final Round Rating: 3.4, Peaks At 6.4 Million

The Ryder Cup ratings news is mixed, with Golf Channel enjoying a historic day on Friday, while the weekend was down a bit since 2012 at Medinah. The reasons? It could be that these matches were without Tiger, with  sooner ending and with millions of cords cut in the four years since the last domestic Cup.

According to SBD, the 3.4 rating was down 17% from 2012's 4.1 rating. That puts the Ryder Cup behind the U.S. Open final round rating (3.8), and just barely ahead of The Open Championship among the big events. The Open aired much earlier in the day than the Ryder Cup.

The full release and overnight numbers:

NBC Sports’ Coverage of 2016 Ryder Cup Sunday Garners 4.3 Million Average Viewers, Peaking at 6.4 Million as U.S. Team Clinched a Decisive 17-11 Victory
 
Golf Channel Posts Most-Watched Day Ever with Coverage of Day 1 of Ryder Cup on Friday, Sept. 30
 
NBC Sports Group’s comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Team’s decisive 17-11 victory at the 2016 Ryder Cup concluded Sunday on NBC with 4.3 million average viewers and a 2.72 U.S. household rating (Noon-6 p.m. ET) according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.  For average viewers, the 2016 Ryder Cup Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis was +95% vs. 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland (7 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. ET); -22% vs. 2012 at Medinah outside Chicago (Noon-6:33 p.m. ET); and +2% vs. 2008 at Valhalla outside Louisville (12:30-6:07 p.m. ET), the last time the United States won the Ryder Cup.
 
Viewership on Sunday peaked with 6.4 Million average viewers from 5-5:15 p.m. ET as Ryan Moore clinched the winning point in Match 7 of 12 at approximately 5:12 p.m. ET, 45 minutes before the conclusion of coverage. In comparison, 2012 at Medinah peaked between 6-6:15 p.m. ET as Europe’s Martin Kaymer capped one of the greatest comebacks in Ryder Cup history by winning the 11th match of 12 to win 14 ½ - 13 ½.
 
Additional NBC Sports Ryder Cup highlights:

·       Across all three days, the 2016 Ryder Cup totaled 35.1 million live minutes, 487,000 unique devices, and an average minute audience of 22,000 across all digital platforms.  The average minute audience of 22,000 users ranks as the highest for any NBC and Golf Channel event on record (NBC’s inaugural coverage of The Open had an average minute audience of 18,000).

·       Golf Channel’s Live From the Ryder Cup on Sunday evening following play posted a .31 overnight rating (6-9:15 p.m. ET), +121% vs. 2014 at Gleneagles and +82% vs. 2012 at Medinah.

·       On Friday with Day 1 of the Ryder Cup, Golf Channel posted its most-watched day in history, since the network was founded by Arnold Palmer more than 21 years ago, with 673,000 average viewers. Golf Channel was the No. 1 cable sports network by 319% in Total Day.

Comments

[Pat]

Or could it be that watching a chubby Patrick Reed bounce around after making a putt isn't as exciting to us as he thinks it is?

[Bluebeach]

Tough going against NFL football on Sunday. However, it was tough to watch live due to so many commercial breaks. I wasn't a big fan of the "playing through" feature which is used on NASCAR. You couldn't tell what was going on or the situation in the match. I'll never watch another golf event without DVR and I'll just avoid twitter. There are times when they come back from a commercial break, you see 2 shots and there's another commercial break. It's unwatchable. And you wonder why the NFL Redzone channel is so popular; no commercials. Perhaps someone could come up with a similar channel for golf.

[Philar]

Pat, who cares how chubby Reed looks, it's about getting the golfball in the hole in the least amount of shots.

[Philar]

Bluebeach, I agree, far too many commercials breaks and" play though " just created more commercials, very tough to watch

[Greg]

Pat, I share your feelings about Reed's antics. They were tiresome and juvenile.

[George]

In that light, the same could be said about Rory.

Both Reed & Rory played to the crowd, culminating in the tit for tat on the 8th hole. Rory sinks a bomb, , does the "I can'T hear you" thing. Reed answers and RoRy & caddie break out in laughter. The tell: the fist bumps, smiles and pats they gave each other. Good theater. Then they got serious.

[Pat(another one)]

I recall when the World Cup of soccer was in the US, ABC handled "commercials" as follows: At the beginning of the time segment they had contracted for, the announcers would say "this next segment brought to you by...." and the company's logo would be on the screen for the duration. That was over 20 years ago, and I have not seen it, that I can recall, since.

Who loses out if they go to that model? SAG, and production companies who make the commercials......are these owned by the networks? It boggles my mind that that model has been mothballed and in its place, more of what is lowering the quality of the product.

Of course, I read a quote from Michael Crichton about TV people. He said they are some of the dumbest people he's ever met. Someone pointed he would find many people like that, given that he has, I believe a PhD or multiple graduate degrees. He said, no, these people are 2+2=5 stupid. It seems that someone has decided the TV industry will break their backs to prove him right.

[Boros]

I don't get the point of posting TV ratings. There's myriad channels and shows, including sporting events, that have minuscule viewership yet continue to be broadcasted. As long as revenue exceeds production costs, who cares how many tuned in? Finchem is no longer commish, so TV ratings can't be used anymore as a clever way to bash Finchem and the Tour schedule.

[Melvyn's Inner Demons]

@Pat @Greg - Yes, how dare he show emotion (and being fat to top it off). The Euros definitely held back and played the game the right way. They didn't incite the crowd at all. A class bunch, all of 'em.

[Thanks King]

That's an interesting insight Pat as I was saying the same thing on twitter. Why can't they get 3 or 4 big-time sponsors to pay to have their log or name watermarked on the screen for an hour at a time or have that company's ads running every 15 minutes for 30 seconds or a minute depending on what they want to run?

If the MOTM can come up with commercial-free sponsorship and limited ad runs, why can't the PGA of America? They need to work more closely with the powers that be in Ponte Vedra and maximize the potential of the corporate behemoth that is the PGAT. Isn't it more about corporate sponsorship on the ground and at the event?

It's almost as though they'd be better off partnering with the Tour and taking a loss in the spirit of growing the game and getting more eyeballs transfixed on the screen during the Ryder Cup, because it is amazing drama and theater. The money will flow in later as more people become fans of golf and the players. But I guess the PGAofA can't resist the opportunity to stroke their egos and line their pockets with corporate ad money.

[Scott]

Maybe NBC's ratings would be a bit higher if they weren't rooting for the Europeans. Just a thought.

[TLB]

Watched the entire RC via DVR is just over half the time of the "live" telecast. Turned the sound off during the Play it Through segments so it was easy to concentrate on the golf side.