The PGA Championship delivered a domestic television ratings boost for both CBS Sports and ESPN as viewers tuned in to see American Collin Morikawa take the first men’s golf major championship of the year.
CBS’s primetime final-round coverage of the spectator-less event at at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California, averaged 5.153 million viewers, with viewership peaking at 6.873 million viewers from 8.30-8.45pm ET.
According to CBS, it was the most-watched golf telecast since July 2019 and up three per cent from las year’s event.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s final round coverage on ESPN, which aired from noon until 3pm ET, averaged 1.965 million viewers. This was up 60 per cent over TNT’s final-round telecast from 2019.
Across all four rounds, ESPN averaged 1.659 million viewers and 399,000 viewers in the ages 18-49 demographic, up 35 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively, from TNT’s coverage last year.
In addition to being the most-viewed PGA Championship on cable since 2010, ESPN’s average of ages 18-49 viewers was up 40 per cent over the past five years.
ESPN was in the first year of a new, 11-year deal to televise the PGA Championship, and was airing the event for the first time in 30 years. ESPN+ also featured extensive live streaming coverage each day.