Golf Ratings Fall, but NBA’s Increase

With Tiger Woods out of contention, NBC’s weekend ratings for the U.S. Open dropped dramatically while its coverage of the NBA Finals produced increased audiences.

Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers had an 11.2 rating and 22 share, a 12% increase over last year’s 10.0 and 20 share for Game 5 between the Lakers and Indiana Pacers.

For the five-game Finals, NBC averaged a 12.1 rating and 22 share, a 4% increase over the 11.6 and 21 share the six-game Pacer-Laker series produced last year. The NBA Finals is the only championship series in pro sports to show ratings increases for two consecutive years.

The series produced the highest NBA ratings since 1998 when Utah and Chicago had an 18.7 and 33 share in Michael Jordan’s last playoff series.

Sunday’s telecast of the fourth round of the U.S. Open drew an overnight rating of 7.0 and 17 share, down 20% from the record 8.8 and 21 share last year when Woods won by 15 strokes.

In New York City, where a transformer fire interrupted service to about 800,000 customers for 2 1/2 hours, the rating was 6.7, down 12% from last year’s 7.6. NBC Sports said the effect on the rating was minuscule.

On Saturday, NBC’s rating for golf’s second major was 5.5 with a 14 share, down 15% from last year’s 6.5 and 15.

The two-day average of 6.2 and 15 share was down 17% from last year’s 7.5 and 18 share.

Woods’ romp to the Open crown a year ago drew the highest rating for the Open since 1981. The victory gave the network a 19% increase from 1999, when Payne Stewart won by one stroke.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs. One rating point represents about 1.02 million households. Overnight ratings cover about 63% of the nation’s population.

The share is the percentage of homes with TVs in use.