Monday, June 16
Overnight ratings down 40 percent
Associated Press
NEW YORK -- With Tiger Woods out of contention and a
relatively suspense-free final round, the overnight ratings for
Sunday's telecast of the U.S. Open dropped 40 percent from last
year.
The 5.6 overnight rating with a 13 share for the final round was
down from the 9.3/21 for last year's final round at Bethpage Black,
where Woods held off Phil Mickelson to win the second of golf's
four majors by three shots.
Last year's ratings were the highest for the U.S. Open since
Nielsen Media Research began tracking overnights in 1975.
NBC's telecast of Sunday's final round ran from 1:30-8 p.m. Jim
Furyk won his first major by three shots over Stephen Leaney.
Saturday's third-round coverage generated a 5.3 overnight rating
and a 13 share -- 17 percent lower than last year's 6.4/16.
The final round in 2001, in which Retief Goosen won in a
playoff, drew a 7.0/17, while Woods' win at Pebble Beach in 2000
received a then-record 8.8/21.
Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets in the
United States, covering nearly 70 percent of the country. Each
overnight rating point represents about 735,000 TV homes. The share
is the percentage of televisions in use tuned to a program.
