FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 11th, 2017

NBC’S WEEKEND COVERAGE OF RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN MOST-WATCHED WOMEN’S GOLF TELECASTS IN 2017

Most Watched Women’s British Open Weekend Coverage in 10 Years

Saturday’s Coverage Most Watched Third Round Since 2014 U.S. Women’s Open

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 11, 2017 – NBC’s weekend coverage of the RICOH Women’s British Open delivered the most-watched and highest-rated women’s golf telecasts year-to-date in 2017, the first time in history despite its morning/early afternoon telecast window.

Sunday’s final round, which saw I.K. Kim win her first major championship, posted a .78 U.S. HH rating and 1.1 million viewers (11:30 a.m.-2:33 p.m. ET), +28% vs. 2016,  making it the highest-rated and most-watched final round telecast for women’s golf in 2017 and on NBC since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open (2.035 million viewers). Final round coverage also was the most-watched final round at this event in more than 10 years (2006 on ABC, 1.592 million). The comparable three hours of broadcast coverage on NBC was +26% vs. the final three hours of the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open on FOX (3:30-6:41 p.m., 874K viewers) and +31% vs. the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on NBC (3-6:04 p.m., 840K viewers).

The comparable five hours of RICOH Women’s British Open final round coverage across Golf Channel and NBC delivered a .58 U.S. HH rating and 824,000 viewers (9:30 a.m.-2:33 p.m. ET), also making it the most-watched women’s major 5-hour telecast in 2017 (+4% vs. 2017 U.S. Women’s Open on FOX, 790K viewers).

Saturday’s coverage of the RICOH Women’s British Open (11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET) delivered a .61 U.S. HH rating and 809K viewers, +33% vs. 2016, the most-watched third round women’s golf telecast this year and since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open on NBC (1.455 million viewers). Saturday’s coverage also was the most-watched third round at this event in 10 years (2007 on ABC, 846K viewers). The comparable three hours of broadcast coverage was +19% vs. the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open on FOX (681K viewers) and +10% vs. the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on NBC (736K viewers).

In total, 7 million unique viewers tuned in to some portion of coverage of the RICOH Women’s British Open across four days on Golf Channel and NBC, the most number of viewers among women’s major championships in 2017 and most number of viewers for the Women’s British Open since 2005 (7.2 million).

Next up in women’s golf will be Golf Channel and NBC’s coverage of the Solheim Cup, the biennial team match play event featuring the United States vs. Europe, being contested in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, August 18 – Sunday, August 20.

-NBC Sports Group-