You might remember all those jokes made earlier this year when the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour found a broadcast home with the CW Network.
But it turns out LIV’s viewership numbers are no laughing matter, per reports.
Of the different stats being thrown around from ratings measurement reports, one thing has been consistent: The numbers are BAD.
From No Laying Up’s Kevin Van Valkenburg:
Have an update on LIV Golf ratings for the Tucson event. According to a source, it scored a 0.14 overnight rating in 33 markets from Saturday. https://t.co/cyFNrDBDIj
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) March 19, 2023
That’s actually WORSE than the reported ratings in February, which were an 0.2.
The New York Post‘s translation of the February numbers: “Just 286,000 viewers on Saturday and 291,000 on Sunday on its CW broadcasts,” compared to 1.61 million who tuned in Saturday and 2.38 million on Sunday for the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic on NBC.
Worth noting: The Honda Classic didn’t have a field full of the game’s best golfers.
Oof.
Earlier in March, Golfweek spoke with LIV’s chief media officer, who explained why those numbers aren’t fully reflective of their viewership:
“This is why we wanted to be thorough and take our time and not leap or react to initial stories which were incomplete,” explained LIV Golf’s chief media officer, Will Staeger. “The way that we are distributed on Nexstar and CW platforms includes both the CW affiliates throughout the country, but also a web of Nexstar owned stations and some independent stations.”
“So just taking a small sample is just not going to be accurate given the distribution strategy of our partner on linear,” he continued, noting how some Nexstar stations, like WGN in Chicago, are more widely viewed than CW affiliates. “So those numbers were not taken into account from the small sample.”
Maybe it’ll take time to build viewership. Perhaps what Staeger said is a factor. But for now? These numbers aren’t great at all.
