Wimbledon Championships Draw Good Crowd for ESPN

Gentlemen's championship drew network's best tennis rating ever; Ladies' championship up 5% from 2011

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/9/2012 6:30:22 PM

The first year of ESPN's exclusive broadcast rights to the Wimbledon Championships were a success for the network, gaining in key demos as well as setting the mark for the network's highest-rated tennis match ever.

During its coverage of the two-week tournament ESPN posted the top five most-watched Wimbledon telecasts in its 10 years at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The Gentlemen's championship -- which saw Roger Federer win his record-tying 7th Wimbledon -- drew a 2.9 coverage rating, ESPN's best ever for tennis. The total ratings of 2.0 and 2.5 for the Ladies' and Gentlemen's matches over the weekend were up of 5% and 39%, respectively, over last year's broadcasts.

The ESPN/ESPN2 rating is equal to last year's NBC/ESPN2 coverage with a 0.7, but the key male demographic groups enjoyed strong double-digit increases in impressions: M18-34 and M18-49 up 37% each, and M25-54 up 28%.