UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA - JUNE 18: Dustin Johnson of the United States watches his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the 115th U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay on June 18, 2015 in University Place, Washington. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA - JUNE 18: Dustin Johnson of the United States watches his tee shot on the 15th hole during the first round of the 115th U.S. Open Championship at Chambers Bay on June 18, 2015 in University Place, Washington. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Viewership Momentum Building For FOX Sports’ Coverage of 115th U.S. Open Championship
Broadcasting more than a combined 11 hours of second-round play, FOX Sports continued its inaugural presentation of the 115th U.S. Open Championship on Friday on FOX Sports 1 (12:00 – 8:00 PM ET) and local FOX stations (8:00 – 11:14 PM ET).
For the second consecutive day, viewership numbers showed impressive gains across both networks, highlighted by primetime coverage on local FOX stations that drew 2.9 million viewers, the most-watched second-round telecast of the U.S. Open on any network since the 2012 championship at Olympic Club (3.0).
FOX Sports’ two-day coverage has averaged a combined 2.0 million viewers, a +54% increase over last year’s combined average on ESPN and NBC (1.3 million viewers).
Highlights:
– Second-round coverage averaged 2.0 million viewers across FOX and FOX Sports 1, according to Nielsen, a +54% gain over the 2014 U.S. Open Friday delivery (2.0 million vs. 1.3 million).
– Friday’s primetime coverage on local FOX stations from 8:00-11:12 PM ET averaged 2.9 million viewers, a +61% increase over 2014’s second-round telecast on NBC (1.8 million viewers) and the most-watched second round of the U.S. Open on any network since 2012 (3.0 million viewers).
– Friday night’s viewership peaked with 3.1 million viewers from 10:00-10:30 PM ET and produced a first-place primetime finish among broadcast networks in both the 18-49 and 25-54 male demographics.
– Through the first two rounds of the championship, the 2015 U.S. Open is averaging 2.0 million viewers on FOX and FOX Sports 1, a +54% increase over the 2014 average on ESPN and NBC (1.3 million viewers).
– Friday’s coverage on FOX Sports 1 averaged 1.6 million viewers, a +33% increase over ESPN’s second-round viewership in 2014 (1.2 million viewers), peaking from 4:30-5:00 PM ET at 2.1 million viewers as the featured group of Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Angel Cabrera began their round.
– Top five markets for Friday’s second-round coverage on local FOX stations: Seattle (5.4), Louisville (4.1), Indianapolis (3.9), Columbus (3.7) and Portland (3.7).
– FOX Sports-produced digital live streams of the U.S. Open continue to be a huge hit with fans on FOX Sports GO, USOpen.com and the U.S. Open official app. With multiple channels of live coverage including streams of the TV broadcast, Featured Holes, Featured Groups and U.S. Open 360, there were over two million live streams started during Friday’s second round action.
– Unique visitors to FOXSports.com’s golf section have increased +180% over coverage of the 2014 U.S. Open and video views are showing a +566% gain over last year’s event.
