Downs & Ups of Television Broadcasts


Despite Bubba Watson's heroics and a broad mix of age groups vying for a green jacket, Sunday's television ratings of the Masters on CBS matched the lowest in a decade.

The final round, which lacked much drama with Watson maintaining his lead on the back nine en route to a three-stroke victory, received a 7.8 overnight rating, according to Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily.

For comparison, Sunday in last year's Masters drew a 10.2 rating as Adam Scott won in a dramatic playoff over Angel Cabrera.

Also lending to the low numbers on Sunday was the absence of No. 1-ranked Tiger Woods (not playing due to recent back surgery) and Phil Mickelson (missed the cut). Woods is a four-time green jacket winner, while Lefty's won three.

The third round on CBS, received a 4.4 rating, down from 6.3 in 2013.

Sunday's 7.8 rating - which means that the coverage was seen in 7.8 percent of U.S. homes - was the worst since the 2004 Masters won by Mickelson. But that tournament was on Easter Sunday (the holiday also affected ratings in 2007, '09 and '12).

The best Masters overnight rating since 1997 was a 12.9 in 2001when Woods won his second title.

At the Other End of the Spectrum . . .

The Golf Channel has announced that the first part of its three-night series, "Arnie," was the most-watched original film in its history.

The first part aired Sunday night after the Masters. The second installment - "Arnie & His Majors" - was Monday night, with the third and final part - "Arnie & His Legacy" - being broadcast Tuesday night.

According to Nielsen Fast Nationals, the Sunday show garnered 471,000 viewers, nearly doubling the network's previous most-watched original film, "War By The Shore" (241,000 viewers), in September 2012.

Golf Channel's production team, including producer Israel DeHerrera, writer Aaron Cohen and assistant producer Mason Seay - who have a combined 36 Emmy Awards - spent the past year traveling with Palmer, interviewed more than 100 people, and sifted through hundreds of hours of archived film, including never- before-seen Palmer family videos.