FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 30th, 2013

GOLF CHANNEL POSTS MOST-WATCHED MAY EVER, 19% INCREASE IN VIEWERSHIP YEAR OVER YEAR

As 2013’s Fifth Consecutive Most-Watched Month, May Garners Nearly 17 Million Unique Viewers for Golf Channel 

PGA TOUR’S THE PLAYERS Championship Posts Most-Viewed Week and Most-Watched Week Records for Event on Golf Channel

GolfChannel.com On Pace to Set Best Ever Marks for Key Metrics

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (May 30, 2013) – Golf Channel’s tremendous momentum continues through the month of May, which was the network’s most-watched May ever.  Golf Channel has now opened 2013 with five consecutive record-setting months, an unprecedented accomplishment since Golf Channel became the cable home of the PGA TOUR in 2007.

Golf Channel drew 16.9 million unique viewers in May with a wide-spectrum of programming driving these record numbers, which have been built upon Golf Channel’s success in 2011 and 2012 as the fastest-growing television network among those serving 80 million-plus homes – a two-year span of unprecedented viewership growth since the network became part of the NBC Sports Group.  For 24-hour Total Day (6AM-6AM), 133,000 average viewers per minute were tuned into Golf Channel in May, representing a 19% year-over-year increase compared to May 2012 (112,000), 58% vs. May 2011 (84,000) and 49% vs. May 2010 (89,000), according to data released today by the Nielsen Company.

Viewership highlights from May include:

 

TOURNAMENTS:

  • Most-viewed and most-watched PLAYERS Championship week for Golf Channel in the event’s history with 11.5 million unique viewers (+23% YOY) and 212,000 average viewers per minute for 24-hour Total Day (+25% YOY), respectively.
  • Golf Channel’s early round coverage of THE PLAYERS on Thursday (1.73 million viewers) and Friday (1.7 million viewers) becoming the network’s 18th and 19th rounds or programs in 2013 with more than 1 million viewers.

 

NEWS:

  • LIVE FROM THE PLAYERS audience peaking on Sunday, May 12 with 1.4 million average viewers leading into and out of “Golf Channel on NBC” coverage (1:15-1:30 p.m. and 7:15-7:30 p.m.)
  • MORNING DRIVE up 19% with 51,000 average viewers per minute vs. May of last year (43,000), including its highest hour of the year outside of Masters Week with 155,000 average viewers on Saturday, May 11, from 8-9 a.m.

 

ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING:

  • BIG BREAK MEXICO season premiere becoming the second most-watched debut for BIG BREAK with 279,000 average viewers.
  • FEHERTY episode featuring Rocco Mediate on Monday, May 13, matched this season’s premiere with Jack Nicklaus as the most-watched FEHERTY in 2013 with 193,000 average viewers.

 

GOLFCHANNEL.COM AND GOLF CHANNEL MOBILE POST RECORD TRAFFIC:

With two days remaining to be reported for May, Golf Channel’s digital presence is continuing to set new milestones.  Omniture data is showing GolfChannel.com pulling in record numbers for unique visitors for the third straight month. Golf Channel Mobile will report May as the Golf Channel Academy instructional app’s best month for unique visitors, page views, and video starts since launching in January 2013.

 

ABOUT GOLF CHANNEL

As the fastest-growing network on television, Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and part of the NBC Sports Group, is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. Exclusive partnerships with the world’s top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf’s best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel’s digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.