U.S. Open Championship Third Round Tops Primetime, Continues Strong Viewership Pace for FOX Sports

Saturday’s third-round action during the 115th U.S. Open Championship pitted a crowded leaderboard filled with compelling storylines against the imposing Chambers Bay course, and the combination pushed viewership on FOX to another impressive day.

Coverage of Saturday’s round on local FOX stations registered a 2.8 rating and an average audience of 4.2 million viewers, a +33% increase over NBC’s third-round broadcast in 2014 (3.2 million viewers). The primetime portion of the coverage averaged 4.8 million viewers, which is projected to win the night among the broadcast networks and finish as the highest-rated event of the day, according to Nielsen.

The first three rounds of the 115th U.S. Open Championship have averaged a combined 2.6 million viewers each day, a +37% increase over last year’s combined average on ESPN and NBC (1.9 million viewers).

Highlights:

– Saturday’s third-round broadcast peaked with 5.0 million viewers from 10:00–10:30 PM ET.

– In comparison to 2014, the broadcast showed significant ratings jumps across several key demographics, including: men 18-34 (+75%; 0.7 vs. 0.4), men 18-49 (+38%; 1.1. vs. 0.8), men 25-54 (+45%; 1.6 vs. 1.1) and adults 18-49 (+40%; 0.7 vs. 0.5).

– The primetime portion of Saturday’s round averaged 4.8 million viewers from 8:00-10:44 PM ET and is projected to rank first among the broadcast networks. Additionally, the U.S. Open delivered FOX’s most-watched Saturday night in primetime since Feb. 14 (NASCAR Sprint Unlimited race).

– Three-day coverage across local FOX stations has posted an average audience of 3.7 million viewers, a +38% gain over 2014 on NBC.

– Top five markets for Saturday’s third-round coverage on local FOX stations: Seattle (8.1), Portland (5.7), Louisville (5.4), Columbus (4.9) and Austin (4.8).