Kentucky Derby TV Viewership, 1975-2008
May 6th, 2008 by Bill Gorman
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And They’re Off! To NBC, Kentucky Derby TV Ratings Decline Is Reversed
5/6 Update: Hollywood Reporter has the final viewership for this year’s Derby at 14.2 million, up 3% from last year. I have updated the chart and table below.
A long term decline in Kentucky Derby ratings was reversed sharply when NBC took over the broadcast in 2001. While the decline in TV ratings for “championship” sports events is pretty typical, the reversal of such is quite rare. I am way too out of touch with horse racing to know what NBC might have done to reverse the decline, but I’m sure we have alert readers out there who will be happy to share their opinions.
5/5 Update: Commenter Mikey has done just that. NBC splits the race and the pre-race into 2 distinct shows as well as moved the post-time to 6:10 from 5:30, so at least the initial ratings increase in 2001 after they took over can be significantly attributed to that. The slower increase after 2001 is still notable compared with most big sporting events.
Complete Kentucky Derby TV Ratings, 1975-2008:
|
Year |
Viewers |
HH Rating |
Share |
Network |
Winner |
|
1975 |
26.74 |
18.9 |
54 |
ABC |
Foolish Pleasure |
|
1976 |
25.84 |
17.5 |
49 |
ABC |
Bold Forbes |
|
1977 |
20.70 |
14.9 |
48 |
ABC |
Seattle Slew** |
|
1978 |
22.40 |
17.0 |
48 |
ABC |
Affirmed** |
|
1979 |
20.82 |
16.0 |
49 |
ABC |
Spectacular Bid |
|
1980 |
19.27 |
15.4 |
48 |
ABC |
Genuine Risk |
|
1981 |
23.47 |
16.0 |
46 |
ABC |
Pleasant Colony |
|
1982 |
20.26 |
14.1 |
40 |
ABC |
Gato Del Sol |
|
1983 |
19.90 |
14.5 |
37 |
ABC |
Sunny’s Halo |
|
1984 |
16.82 |
12.9 |
36 |
ABC |
Swale |
|
1985 |
12.06 |
10.9 |
32 |
ABC |
Spend a Buck |
|
1986 |
16.95 |
13.6 |
37 |
ABC |
Ferdinand |
|
1987 |
14.39 |
11.6 |
31 |
ABC |
Alysheba |
|
1988 |
|
9.0 |
28 |
ABC |
Winning Colors |
|
1989 |
|
11.6 |
31 |
ABC |
Sunday Silence |
|
1990 |
|
10.1 |
27 |
ABC |
Unbridled |
|
1991 |
11.68 |
8.3 |
24 |
ABC |
Strike The Gold |
|
1992 |
11.61 |
8.9 |
26 |
ABC |
Lil E. Tee |
|
1993 |
9.64 |
7.3 |
22 |
ABC |
Sea Hero |
|
1994 |
10.58 |
7.5 |
21 |
ABC |
Go For Gin |
|
1995 |
8.13 |
6.0 |
17 |
ABC |
Thunder Gulch |
|
1996 |
9.77 |
7.4 |
21 |
ABC |
Grindstone |
|
1997 |
10.07 |
7.1 |
19 |
ABC |
Silver Charm |
|
1998 |
8.26 |
6.1 |
18 |
ABC |
Real Quiet |
|
1999 |
8.70 |
6.3 |
19 |
ABC |
Charismatic |
|
2000 |
7.93 |
5.8 |
17 |
ABC |
Fusiachi Pegasus |
|
2001 |
13.48 |
9.3 |
24 |
NBC |
Monarchos |
|
2002 |
12.82 |
8.3 |
21 |
NBC |
War Emblem |
|
2003 |
11.76 |
7.6 |
20 |
NBC |
Funny Cide |
|
2004 |
14.57 |
9.3 |
22 |
NBC |
Smarty Jones |
|
2005 |
13.58 |
9.0 |
22 |
NBC |
Giacomo |
|
2006 |
12.89 |
8.4 |
20 |
NBC |
Barbaro |
|
2007 |
13.75 |
8.8 |
21 |
NBC |
Street Sense |
|
2008 |
14.30 |
|
|
NBC |
Big Brown |
**Triple Crown winner
Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 Nielsen Media Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
