There are still no multi-telecast averages that I can directly compare with past US Open golf tournament TV ratings, but here are some individual show viewership averages from both NBC and ESPN for this year’s rain soaked tournament.
via nielsen:
Top 10 Broadcast Sports Programs
Week of June 15, 2009
| RANK | PROGRAM | NETWORK | RATING | VIEWERS (000) |
| 1 | US OPEN GOLF-SUN | NBC | 4.7 | 7073 |
| 2 | US OPEN GOLF-SAT | NBC | 3.4 | 4850 |
| 3 | US OPEN GOLF-SUN BONUS | NBC | 2.7 | 3876 |
| 4 | US OPEN GOLF-SAT BONUS | NBC | 2.5 | 3559 |
| 5 | US OPEN GOLF-FRI | NBC | 2.1 | 2806 |
| 6 | WWE FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN | MNT | 1.7 | 2824 |
| 7 | FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL (VARIOUS) | FOX | 1.5 | 2116 |
| 8 | US OPEN GOLF-THU | NBC | 0.8 | 1121 |
| 9 | IOWA CORN INDY 250 | ABC | 0.8 | 1130 |
| 10 | COPA CONFEDERNS (ITALIA VS BRASIL) | UNI | 0.8 | 1500 |
Source: The Nielsen Company. Viewing estimates on this page include Live viewing and DVR playback on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.
Top 10 Cable Sports Programs
Week of June 15, 2009
| RANK | PROGRAM | NETWORK | RATING | VIEWERS (000) |
| 1 | SPRINT CUP RACING/SONOMA | TNT | 3.4 | 5788 |
| 2 | MLB SUNDAY NIGHT (LAD/LAA) | ESPN | 1.5 | 2155 |
| 3 | GOLF: US OPEN (2ND RD PT 2) | ESPN | 1.4 | 1919 |
| 4 | GOLF: US OPEN (2ND RD PT 1) | ESPN | 1.4 | 1781 |
| 5 | NASCAR NATIONWIDE SRS (MILWAUKEE) | ESPN2 | 1.1 | 1588 |
| 6 | TNA: IMPACT | SPIKE | 1.1 | 1640 |
| 7 | COLLEGE WORLD SRS (ASU/TX) | ESPN2 | 0.9 | 1396 |
| 8 | MLB MON NIGHT (MIL/CLE) | ESPN | 0.9 | 1345 |
| 9 | COLLEGE WORLD SRS (ARK/VA) | ESPN2 | 0.9 | 1298 |
| 10 | COLLEGE WORLD SRS (TX/ASU) | ESPN | 0.9 | 1289 |
Source: The Nielsen Company. Viewing estimates on this page include Live viewing and DVR playback on the Same Day, defined as 3am-3am. Ratings are the percentage of TV homes in the U.S. tuned into television.
Considering that the 5 telecast average from 2008 was 7.83 million viewers, the 2009 numbers aren’t going to be even remotely close. Those numbers don’t include the Monday telecasts on both ESPN and NBC (we probably won’t see those numbers for another week), but those numbers are likely even lower.
Wonder Why WWE is included in broadcast list for WWE Smackdown, but not in Cable list for WWE Raw?
Steve, good catch, and an interesting question!
Edit: Quite possibly because that week’s WWE Raw (the first of two “Trump ownership” episodes) was commercial free, and Nielsen typically does not rate non-commercial shows.
Edit #2: Nope, it was the following week’s RAW that was commercial free. I’m not sure now.