NBC Sports’ final-round coverage of the U.S. Open from Pebble Beach was up 35 percent in the overnight ratings from last year, according to data provided by The Nielsen Company. Sunday’s coverage (3-9:15 p.m. ET), which saw Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell win his first major championship, drew an overnight rating of 6.9/15 up 35 percent from last year’s 5.1/12 (1:30-8:15 p.m.ET) and the best for a Sunday round of a U.S. Open in which Tiger Woods did not win since 2001 when Retief Goosen won the Open from Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla (7.0/17).
The rating peaked at a 9.6/17 from 9-9:15 as McDowell defeated France’s Gregory Havret by one stroke.
U.S. OPEN NO. 1 PROGRAM ON SUNDAY NIGHT: The U.S. Open was the No. 1 program of the night, registering an overnight rating of 8.4/16 (7-9:15 p.m. ET), boosting NBC to the No. 1 network on Sunday night. The Open on NBC dominated the competition, nearly doubling its closest competitor (CBS, 7-9 p.m. ET, 4.6).
SUNDAY’S TOP 10 MARKETS:
1. West Palm Beach 12.0/20
2. Ft. Myers 10.7/20
3. Columbus 9.1/21
T4. Pittsburgh 9.0/19
T4. Norfolk 9.0/15
T6. Buffalo 8.9/19
T6. Cincinnati 8.9/18
T8. Greensboro 8.6/15
T8. Tulsa 8.6/15
10. Phoenix 8.4/18
