As I wrote yesterday, it is too bad Sunday’s final round didn’t produce more drama. The lack of suspense on the back 9 accounted for the sharp decline in the rating as much as Tiger Woods’ absence.
From Sports Media Watch:
Final round coverage of The Masters earned a 7.8 overnight rating on CBS Sunday afternoon, down 24% from last year (10.2), down 4% from 2012 (8.1), and the lowest overnight for final round coverage since 2004 (7.3).
Overall, the 7.8 is the third-lowest for the final round since at least 1991, ahead of only 2004 and 1993 (6.8). Excluding Easter Sunday telecasts, the 7.8 is the lowest over that span.
It was one of the dullest final rounds at the Masters in years, and had to account for at least 10 percent in the ratings decline. If you had a good battle between Bubba Watson and the young Jordan Spieth, the audience would have been much higher. Remember, the previous two Masters went to playoffs, and not one of them involved Woods.
In regards to Woods, for a true apples to apples comparison, you have to look at the Friday and Saturday numbers. The ratings tell the story.
In 2013 with Woods playing late in the second round, ESPN did a record 3.0 rating (4.2 million viewers). This year, the rating dropped 40 percent to 1.8 (3 million viewers).
The Saturday rating also is telling. In 2013, with Woods in contention despite a controversial two-shot penalty, CBS did a 6.3 overnight rating. This year, with no Woods, the rating dropped 30 percent to 4.4.
Really, the third round was quite compelling with Spieth making a surge and Watson struggling. Yet a considerable amount of viewers didn’t tune in because Woods wasn’t in the field.
Declines of 40 and 30 percent on Friday and Saturday make this Volume 258 on Tiger’s impact on the ratings.
I’ll watch The Masters either with or without Eldrick in attendance. But I’m still amazed he has that much of a “gawk factor” among casual golf fans. And when I say casual, I mean people who don’t give a damn about golf UNLESS he’s playing. And there seems to be a ton of those people, and I don’t really think they EVEN LIKE GOLF!
Remember back in the last half of 2008 or the 1st three months of 2010, when the ratings tanked without him? It just doesn’t change, and proably never will. And it sure doesn’t matter to me when CBS and/or NBC and/or ESPN cries about the ratings. I’ll also never understand WHY there are so many casual golf fans. I guess we never knew they even existed before 1997.