ESPN Scores with U.S. Open
Tight Win for Tiger Equates to Ratings Blowout
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/17/2008 5:40:00 PM
Sports giant ESPN said its coverage of the rollercoaster U.S. Open playoff Monday between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate, which it ran from noon-2 p.m. (EST) before broadcast network NBC took over the live coverage, was the most-viewed golf telecast ever for a cable network.
ESPN recorded a 4.2 household rating with 4,055,000 household impressions and 4,762,000 viewers. That far surpassed the 3.1 household rating, averaging 3,014,000 households, which ESPN earned for its coverage of the Masters in April, the previous high for a golf telecast on cable.
World No. 1 Woods -- who finished second at the Masters and subsequently had knee surgery that kept him out of action until the Open -- eventually captured Monday’s 18-hole playoff at Torrey Pines outside San Diego on the 19th hole, after it went to the sudden-death format.
The drama of this year’s open contest also gave a boost to ESPN’s broadband coverage. From Thursday-Monday, ESPN.com generated more than 5.1 million visits, a 256% jump compared with last year, and 36.7 million page views, a 282% increase. The Monday playoff itself generated nearly 2.4 million visits and 10.7 million page views, which could be a reflection of corporate America’s intense interest in the Open’s outcome.
Additionally, ESPN said its TV coverage of the first two rounds of this year’s U.S. Open represented the most-viewed combined telecasts since 2000, averaging a 1.8 household rating and 1,780,000 impressions across the Thursday and Friday telecasts from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. and 5 p.m.-10 p.m.
Its Mobile Web site, accessible by Web-enabled mobile handsets, averaged more than 2 million unique daily visitors to golf content during the tournament, generating nearly 3 million page views.
