US Open TV Results Were Good, But Not Great

Written by: Staff on 13th September 2012

US Open TV Results Were Good, But Not Great

epa03391835 Serena Williams of the US serves to Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during the women's final match on the fourteenth day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 09 September 2012. The US Open has been extended a day for the fifth straight year due to weather and will end on Monday 10 September 2012. EPA/JASON SZENES |

US Open TV Ratings may not be as good as advertised While CBS celebrated its overnight ratings peaking at a 4.2 share from 9-9:15 PM ET for the US Open men’s final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the entire broadcast drew a 2.3 overnight share, down 12%, Sports Media Watch reported.

The 2.3 overnight is the second lowest ever for the men’s final of the US Open, ahead of only 2010.

These ratings will almost surely be part of the discussion when the USTA decides to move to a permanent Monday final in 2013, or just get rid of Super Saturday and go back to traditional Friday men’s semifinals.

Due to rain, the last five U.S. Open men’s finals have been played on Mondays and none of those rating are anything to write home about. In fact, the past five years combined to average a 2.46 rating, while in the five years preceding when the finals were played on Sunday afternoons they combined to average a 4.68.

The last time the men’s final was played on Sunday afternoon, in 2007, the match between Djokovic and Roger Federer earned a 4.2.

While the men’s’ finals ratings may look good to some, consider that Monday’s final ratings were less than half that of two NFL games played later that evening: ESPN earned an 8.1 overnight rating for its coverage of the Bengals-Ravens game, while the Chargers-Raiders game played later, earned a 7.9 overnight rating from.

The Serena Williams vs. Victoria Azarenka women’s final earned a 3.9 overnight rating on Sunday, down 7% from last year’s (4.2) match between Serena and Sam Stosur, but up 105% from 2010, when Kim Clijsters faced Vera Zvonareva.

The 3.9 overnight is the third-best for the women’s final of the US Open over the past decade, behind 2011 and 2008 (4.3). However, all those three finals were played on a Sunday following football, and all three involved the very popular Serena Williams.

The last time two finals that aired in the traditional Saturday night primetime window were 2010 (1.9) and 2007 (2.6) when Justine Henin defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova.

The Serena versus Venus Williams 2002 final was a high water mark, drawing a 7.2, but the five Saturday night finals that followed it did not fare nearly as well, with the highest rating going to Maria Sharapova’s 2006 victory over Henin (3.2) Compare those numbers to the this summer’s Olympic gold medal match between Serena and Sharapova, which drew a 5.6 final rating on NBC.

ESPN hasn’t officially released its ratings yet, but Sport Business Journals said that they were down to a 0.6 from a 0.7 in 2011.

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: CBS tennis, Espn Tennis, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis News, US Open 2012, Victoria Azarenka