61 replies to this topic

[gwlee7]

Tiger is admittedly a huge factor in why a lot of people watch.  He is not a factor in whether I watch.  If he's playing well and in the hunt, great.  If not, still great.  But, I am a golf fan and not really a Tiger Woods fan.

[Hrlyrdr22]

Being EASTER and no TIGER in the hunt.  I wish the coverage would have been from first tee time though, without having to log onto a computer or view on an IPHONE or IPAD app.

[deck]

Let's not forget last year was tiger coming back after his crap. That had to do something. Just saying. People rooting for him and other people hoping he would flop.

[dpwigolfer]

thats what Easter and no tiger does. Shame though it was truly a great final round

[rlc323]

It was too nice of an April day here to stay inside and watch. Played 18 holes after Easter lunch and we watched the finish on the clubhouse TV. Dvr'd it but haven't watched yet.

Lot's of baseball on TV Sunday as well to compete with.

Didn't baseball always start the week after the Masters, until recently?

[Awsi Dooger]

Tiger kicks the needle

[atlanta golfer]

As a GOLF fan, I watched almost all of the tournament Sunday and it was one of the most entertaining golf tournaments I have ever seen.  Anyone who missed it, really missed out.  

Also, I have to say, one of the best things about the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday,  was that the newspapers and tv finally stopped spending half their time covering a guy who has won once in the past three years.

[nvmyprixgt]

atlanta golfer, on 09 April 2012 - 06:46 PM, said:

As a GOLF fan, I watched almost all of the tournament Sunday and it was one of the most entertaining golf tournaments I have ever seen.  Anyone who missed it, really missed out.  

Also, I have to say, one of the best things about the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday,  was that the newspapers and tv finally stopped spending half their time covering a guy who has won once in the past three years.

They cover what makes them the mOst money and brings in the most viewers. They are a business.

[Snufles]

KennyLee, on 09 April 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

What about families all being together watching together?  We finished lunch at 1pm, just in time to settle in front of the TV.  The egg hunting happened in the late morning.  All the wives and kids played in the other room.  All the men gathered in front of the TV to watch golf.

If it wouldn't have been Easter, the same group of men would have watched the event, but from at least 5 different homes, rather than all from just one.   In our case, they got credit for one-household though it was really a combination of five.

I can see that having an impact as well.  Not a 22% impact, but probably a significant number regardless.

A large number of courses that are normally closed this time of year are open. Not too many people curled up in front of the TV in my area.

[QMany]

Konklifer, on 09 April 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Without factoring in TiVo and DVR recordings (which all networks use now to calculate viewership) you can't have an accurate number.

Agreed. I thought for ratings, they included DVR recordings watching within 48 hours.

[PGArox]

Mschumacher, on 09 April 2012 - 02:58 PM, said:

Last year had the Tiger charging on Sunday.  You can hate him but can't argue he IS the needle

Agree 100%.  This year's decline in viewership had very little to do with Easter Sunday.  Plain and simple, it was Tiger.  He is the needle.

[kitsoasis]

I don't think people who aren't regular golf watchers would know or care who Louis Oosthuizen is. Bubba's name would do better but  Tiger + Rory not being anywhere near winning, combined with Easter would explain it.

2 biggest names in golf not in contention and ratings are down, how is that even surprising?

[PuttLeftHitRight]

No Rory no Tiger. It happens unfortunately

[corky]

casual viwers and the media shouls surely be getting used to Tiger not really performing by now..... surely?

[PuttLeftHitRight]

corky, on 09 April 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

casual viwers and the media shouls surely be getting used to Tiger not really performing by now..... surely?

You know he won the other week right?

[Sean2]

Well, I watched it. :-)

[meroj]

QMany, on 09 April 2012 - 08:15 PM, said:

Konklifer, on 09 April 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Without factoring in TiVo and DVR recordings (which all networks use now to calculate viewership) you can't have an accurate number.

Agreed. I thought for ratings, they included DVR recordings watching within 48 hours.

Hard to agree with the fact that they count dvr viewings within 48 hours since is has only been 24.  Tiger moves the needle, but the weather was beautiful in the northeast ( where I live, it's 50/50 if the weather lets you golf on Easter) and it was Easter.  At our gathering, there were at least ten people that would normally be watching the Masters at home, but since we only get together a couple times a year the TV was not on.

[dharlow]

Barto78, on 09 April 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

http://www.businessw...in-s-last-round

The final round of the Masters Tournament drew its worst preliminary television ratings since 2004 as Bubba Watson topped Louis Oosthuizen in a sudden-death playoff and Tiger Woods had his worst finish as a professional.

Yesterday's fourth round at Augusta National Golf Club was watched on CBS in an average of 8.1 percent of households in the top 56 U.S. television markets, Jerry Caraccioli, a spokesman for the CBS Corp. (CBS) (CBS) network, said in a telephone interview. That's 22 percent lower than the 10.4 rating CBS drew a year ago, when Charl Schwartzel captured the title and Woods contended before faltering over the final nine holes.

The crazy thing about those ratings is this....EVERYONE I know was talking about Bubba today. Folks who NEVER watch golf were talking about his win and his shot. I think those ratings had to do with it being Easter and fewer tvs being turned on per household.

[KennyLee]

PuttLeftHitRight, on 09 April 2012 - 09:11 PM, said:

corky, on 09 April 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

casual viwers and the media shouls surely be getting used to Tiger not really performing by now..... surely?

You know he won the other week right?

To be fair, Tiger hasn't won in several days.

[jackfig]

Does anyone know what the ratings were for day 4 of the the 2004 Masters?

It was also on Easter Sunday, Phil was going for his first Major and Tiger was not in the hunt.  Most everyone at our Easter gathering was glued to the TV that afternoon.

Edited by jackfig, 09 April 2012 - 09:31 PM.

[poizster]

For all of you thinking that Easter Sunday is the main reason why ratings were down 22% it's worth mentioning that the CBS coverage on Saturday drew a 5.1 which is off 25% from last year and the lowest third round coverage since 2006.

Edited by poizster, 09 April 2012 - 10:20 PM.

[Konklifer]

meroj, on 09 April 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

QMany, on 09 April 2012 - 08:15 PM, said:

Konklifer, on 09 April 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

Without factoring in TiVo and DVR recordings (which all networks use now to calculate viewership) you can't have an accurate number.

Agreed. I thought for ratings, they included DVR recordings watching within 48 hours.

Hard to agree with the fact that they count dvr viewings within 48 hours since is has only been 24.  Tiger moves the needle, but the weather was beautiful in the northeast ( where I live, it's 50/50 if the weather lets you golf on Easter) and it was Easter.  At our gathering, there were at least ten people that would normally be watching the Masters at home, but since we only get together a couple times a year the TV was not on.

No one said it's a fact that that they count DVR ratings within 48 hours. It IS a fact that Nielsen uses a DVR rating system called Live-Plus:  Live-Plus-Same-Day is who was watching when the show aired plus who watched the show that day and the next, Live-Plus-Three and Live-Plus-Seven track who watched within three and seven days of the original airing respectively.  So, while in a case like a live sporting event, most our going to watch it within a day, to really get an accurate rating you would need to wait a week.

[puttingmatt]

supergolfdude, on 09 April 2012 - 02:23 PM, said:

Many, if not most of the "fanboys" love to bring things up like TV Ratings as some kind of defense of Woods.

The fact is, ANGC and The Masters do not care about TV ratings. The Masters was broadcast years before Woods and will continue long after he's gone.
CBS will continue to do everything they can do to expand coverage of the tournament whether Woods plays or not.

Frankly, all of golf will be just fine when Woods finally exits, just as it was just fine before him. The circus atmosphere won't be there, and that's a GOOD thing, in my opinion.

I will agree with this post, But would add, the poor TV coverage. By 3:00 pm airtime most
of the bigger names were finishing or had finished playing . Would have liked to see
expanded coverage on ESPN !!

[svccmember]

Here are the Sunday Master's ratings over 5 years and Tigers wins in 2002/2005. Figures Lie and Liars Figure

2002 8.1  (Tiger Won)
2005 8.0  (Tiger Won)

2008  8.6
2009  9.4
2010   9.8
2011  10.4
2012   8.1

Tiger isn't the reason for the ratings looking at these numbers. 5 hours on TV on a holiday is probably the issue.

Edited by svccmember, 10 April 2012 - 01:46 AM.

[RRH]

The ratings were down because everyone knew the announcers wouldn't shut up about Tiger after his first win in 3 years. I hate the announcers already and when they talk about Tiger sometimes the TV has to go on mute.

[jmvargas]

svccmember, on 10 April 2012 - 01:46 AM, said:

Here are the Sunday Master's ratings over 5 years and Tigers wins in 2002/2005. Figures Lie and Liars Figure

2002 8.1  (Tiger Won)
2005 8.0  (Tiger Won)

2008  8.6
2009  9.4
2010   9.8
2011  10.4
2012   8.1

Tiger isn't the reason for the ratings looking at these numbers. 5 hours on TV on a holiday is probably the issue.

...i was inclined to agree that tiger does push the needle but these figures do not support that...

i am now inclined to take TV ratings with a grain of salt...ie---so what??

PS..it was a great last day and i am very pleased for Bubba!

[From_Parts_Unknown]

svccmember, on 10 April 2012 - 01:46 AM, said:

Here are the Sunday Master's ratings over 5 years and Tigers wins in 2002/2005. Figures Lie and Liars Figure

2002 8.1  (Tiger Won)
2005 8.0  (Tiger Won)

2008  8.6
2009  9.4
2010   9.8
2011  10.4
2012   8.1

Tiger isn't the reason for the ratings looking at these numbers. 5 hours on TV on a holiday is probably the issue.

Why did you have to go and ruin all of the fictional fun with those facts?

In all seriousness, I hope the moderators lock this thread up.  I know that no one at Augusta National peruses websites such as this one but I am sure they have junior, junior, junior, junior, junior assistants that do it for them.  Knowing Augusta's track record, they are likely to look at this discussion and say "if everyone is so upset about the ratings being low, let's just not air the tournament on TV next year."  They would do that to prove a point about how much of a pluck they don't give concerning ratings.

[DLiver]

jmvargas, on 10 April 2012 - 04:51 AM, said:

svccmember, on 10 April 2012 - 01:46 AM, said:

Here are the Sunday Master's ratings over 5 years and Tigers wins in 2002/2005. Figures Lie and Liars Figure

2002 8.1  (Tiger Won)
2005 8.0  (Tiger Won)

2008  8.6
2009  9.4
2010   9.8
2011  10.4
2012   8.1

Tiger isn't the reason for the ratings looking at these numbers. 5 hours on TV on a holiday is probably the issue.

...i was inclined to agree that tiger does push the needle but these figures do not support that...

i am now inclined to take TV ratings with a grain of salt...ie---so what??

PS..it was a great last day and i am very pleased for Bubba!

It's not about Tiger winning. It's about Tiger being in the hunt. He was in the hunt in 2011 and 2010 (I don't recall about the other years). It has been show year after year after year that when Tiger is in contention, TV ratings go up significantly.

Avid golf fans are going to watch The Masters (year in and year out). Tiger draws in the casual golf fans.

[vgagolfer]

svccmember, on 10 April 2012 - 01:46 AM, said:

Here are the Sunday Master's ratings over 5 years and Tigers wins in 2002/2005. Figures Lie and Liars Figure

2002 8.1  (Tiger Won)
2005 8.0  (Tiger Won)

2008  8.6
2009  9.4
2010   9.8
2011  10.4
2012   8.1

Tiger isn't the reason for the ratings looking at these numbers. 5 hours on TV on a holiday is probably the issue.

I'll be interested in year over year with Tiger in the mix and when he's not for a better comparison than just listing the ratings for 2002/2005 and say it's comparable to 2012.  Not saying you're not right but it's not a valid comparison.  We need more data.

[Vindog]

I'm not doubting Tiger's influence on TV ratings but here's something too.

The Easter Sunday holiday likely had a negative impact on the  numbers. Four of the five lowest final round overnights of the past two  decades have taken place on Easter — 1993 (6.8), 2004 (7.3), this year  (8.1) and 2009 (8.8).

Of the six Masters final round telecasts to take place on Easter  (1993, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012), only one, 2007, ended up with  an increase in overnight ratings over the previous year. In fact, with  the exception of 2007, each telecast was down from the previous year and  exceeded by the following year — an indication that Easter results in a  one-off drop in the numbers.

http://www.sportsmed...st-in-20-years/

vgagolfer, on 13 April 2012 - 01:23 PM, said:

I'll be interested in year over year with Tiger in the mix and when he's not for a better comparison than just listing the ratings for 2002/2005 and say it's comparable to 2012.  Not saying you're not right but it's not a valid comparison.  We need more data.

Tournament 1995   1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012  
The Masters T41  CUT   1   T8 T18 5     1     1   T15   T22 1   T3   T2   2   T6   T4 T4 T40

I hear stuff like this from my local fisherman friends.  Your typical lobster fisherman will take the best year he's ever seen and compare every year to that one, like it is the norm, and lament the numbers of his catch, when in actuality, the numbers are good. Here we have the same thing.  2010 and '11 were NOT the norm, where it seems that somewhere in the 8s and low 9s are.  So the numbers are actually right on point, AND right in the mean of The Masters falling on Easter Sunday.

Edit: Sorry about the crappy formatting

Edited by Vindog, 13 April 2012 - 02:08 PM.