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US Open Women’s Final: Overnight Rating for Match up 36%, ESPN’s Best Ever

Tennis

US Open Women’s Final: Overnight Rating for Match up 36%, ESPN’s Best Ever

Photo of Dave Nagle Dave Nagle Follow on Twitter September 10, 2017
  • Total Streaming Viewers Soared 71% for Battle of Young American Women

Saturday’s US Open Women’s Championship on ESPN – a battle of young American women in which unseeded Sloane Stephens convincingly triumphed over No. 15 Madison Key 6-3, 6-0 – earned a 1.9 overnight rating in the metered markets for the match portion of the three-hour telecast, 36% higher than last year’s women’s final from New York.  It was the highest overnight rating for the match in the three years ESPN has held exclusivity for the US Open – first ball to last ball coverage.  (Notably, because of the hurricane, tennis strongholds Miami and Ft. Myers are not included.)

The rating for the match peaked at its conclusion, the crowning of a new Major champion.  From 5:15 – 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN earned a 2.2 rating.

The highest-rated markets were Norfolk-Portsmoutth-Newport News (3.3), Washington, DC (3.2), Birmingham (2.9), West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce (2.8), and New York (2.7).

In fact, the match out-rated two college football games on Saturday on Fox:  Nebraska-Oregon and, in prime time, Stanford-USC.

The three components of streaming the match were also significantly higher than previously.  The total number of unique viewers was up 71%, the total minutes watched was up 15% and the average minute audience was up 38% to a new high for 2015-17.

ESPN’s Total Average Audience for US Open up 11% after 11 Days

The total average audience for ESPN’s exclusive coverage of the US Open from New York through Thursday, Sept. 7, was up 11% to 952,000 viewers on average, compared to 856,000 for the first 11 days of last year’s event.  The increase includes a 50% rise in the audience for streaming.

 

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Photo of Dave Nagle Dave Nagle Follow on Twitter September 10, 2017
Photo of Dave Nagle

Dave Nagle

As I write this on 11-11-21, it's now 35 years for me at ESPN, the only real job I’ve ever had. I joined merely to help with the upcoming America’s Cup in Australia. I was told it would be for three months at all of $5.50 per hour. I like to say I simply kept showing up. I’ve worked on almost every sport, plus answered viewer calls and letters (people used to write!), given tours, written the company newsletter and once drove NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon to the local airport. My travels have been varied…I’ve been to Martinsville, Darlington, Indy and Super Bowls; the America’s Cup (all 3) in San Diego and College GameDay in the sport’s meccas such as Eugene, Auburn, Lubbock, Stillwater and more; the NBA Finals, Wimbledon (16 times and counting) and the “other Bristol,” the one with a race track in Tennessee. These days, my main areas are tennis, UFC, boxing, network-wide ratings (by month/quarter/year), and corporate communications documents, including fact sheets, chronologies, lists and nearly 35 of the Year in Review press releases. UPDATE EXACTLY ONE YEAR LATER: Today, November 11, 2022, I am retiring from ESPN -- 36 years to the day I began. As I ride off into the sunset – top down and E Street Radio blaring – I do so with so many wonderful memories, proud of my contributions and a heart full of gratitude for the opportunity. 
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