FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018

BIG NUMBERS FOR NBC’S BIG EVENT WEEKEND AS 64 MILLION TUNED IN

RYDER CUP: Sunday’s NBC Viewership up 23% from Last Ryder Cup in Europe; Saturday’s NBC Coverage up 21%

NOTRE DAME PRIMETIME: Stanford-Notre Dame Viewership on NBC up 21% From 2016 Game & Network’s Second-Best in 24 Years for Same Matchup

NASCAR PLAYOFFS: 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Up 13% From Last Year’s Charlotte Race

SNF: Sunday Night Football Viewership Up 8% From 2017 Week 4

STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 3, 2018 – With live marquee events from morning to midnight and beyond, 64 million viewers tuned into NBC’s big event weekend last Saturday and Sunday, that featured the 2018 Ryder Cup, Stanford-Notre Dame in primetime, the premiere of Saturday Night Live, the NASCAR Playoffs from Charlotte, and Sunday Night Football featuring Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

In addition, NBC Sports enjoyed across the board viewership increases, with each broadcast delivering a larger audience than the corresponding weekend in 2017.

Following is a breakdown by live sporting event:

42nd Ryder Cup from Le Golf National outside of Paris

  • Sunday’s NBC coverage posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 2.71 million viewers – up 23% from the last European Ryder Cup (2014 at Gleneagles, Scotland, 2.21 million).
  • Saturday’s NBC coverage registered a Total Audience Delivery average of 2.31 million viewers – up 21% from the last European Ryder Cup (1.91 million in 2014).

Notre Dame Football – Stanford Cardinal vs. Fighting Irish (Saturday primetime)

  • Notre Dame’s 38-17 win over Stanford produced a Total Audience Delivery average of 3.479 million viewers, up 21% from the same matchup on NBC in 2016 (2.880 million) and ranking as the second most-watched Cardinal-Fighting Irish game on NBC in 24 years.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race (Sunday afternoon)

  • The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs race on NBC, which featured the debut of Charlotte Motor Speedway’s all-new ROVAL course and a down-to-the-wire finish between Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney, averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 3.24 million viewers – up 13% from last year (2.87 million).

Sunday Night Football – Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh

  • The Baltimore Ravens’ 26-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers registered a Total Audience Delivery average of 18.2 million viewers – up 8% from last year’s Week 4 SNF game (16.9 million for Colts-Seahawks).

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