6 takeaways from NBC’s coverage of a U.S. Open thriller
Bryson DeChambeau’s putt fell into the center of the hole and a sigh of relief came from NBC Sports brass.
The U.S. Open was over, and NBC survived an epic finish mostly without a hitch, covering the in a way that satisfied even some of the most jaded viewers. On a week in which NBC entered on the hot seat, it exited with one of the best national championships in recent memory, rewarded for its investment in golf with what was sure to be a massive set of TV ratings.
After a tough year in the golf TV biz, NBC had scored a much-needed victory. Sure, a playoff would’ve been better, but it was hard to quibble.
It got better on Tuesday morning, when the latest batch of ratings data showed exactly what many expected: NBC had delivered 5.9 million average viewers on Sunday afternoon, an average audience for the event’s last five years but a big one for an event unaided by the West Coast’s primetime viewing slots.
But what did the U.S. Open mean for the network writ large? And was the rest of the week as successful as Sunday evening? We dig into it all below.