Without a Triple Crown on the line, this year's TV coverage of the June 6 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) attracted approximately half the number of viewers as last year, when Big Brown was attempting to win the Triple Crown at Belmont Park.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Although TV ratings fell for the June 6 telecast of the Belmont Stakes on ABC, that figured to be the case because of the lack of a horse running for the Triple Crown.
Monday, June 08, 2009
NBC's May 16 telecast of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) from Pimlico earned better numbers than most other telecasts of the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
NBC's ratings for the May 16 BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I) rose substantially, scoring the highest numbers for the program's race portion in the past five years.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Rachel Alexandra's star turn in the Blackberry Preakness Stakes (gr. I) drove TV ratings of the race to their highest overnight ratings in five years.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
NBC announced national television ratings for the May 2 Kentucky Derby that rose from 2008 figures.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
ABC/ESPN reports that television ratings for its Oct. 24-25 telecasts of the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita Park rose slightly from 2007 figures. However, ratings remain far below those posted by NBC before ABC/ESPN took over the event in 2006.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Big Brown's failed quest for a coveted Triple Crown drew in the television viewers. The Belmont Stakes (gr. I) broadcast on ABC from 6:15-7:15 p.m. EDT delivered a 10.5 overnight metered market rating, up 169% from last year's race (3.9).
Sunday, June 08, 2008
ESPN's coverage of the Oct. 27 Breeders' Cup drew roughly the same number of viewers as last year, and that is not very good news.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Continuing a trend in sports TV programming, the ratings for the June 9 telecast of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on ABC registered a 2.9, down 12% from 2006's 3.3.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Belmont Stakes telecast June 9 on ABC, which ended up being a thrilling race with a historic finish thanks to the filly Rags to Riches, nevertheless registered modest ratings numbers that continued a downward trend for the race.
Monday, June 11, 2007
NBC reported slightly lower ratings for this year's Preakness Stakes coverage than it received in 2006 when Barbaro was going for the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown.
Monday, May 28, 2007
NBC reported overnight ratings for this year's Preakness that were slightly off last year's Barbaro Preakness numbers, but were still relatively strong for the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
Monday, May 21, 2007
NBC Sports' telecast of the 133rd Kentucky Derby May 5 averaged 11.5 million viewers, the highest number since 2001, the network reported Thursday.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ratings for the one-hour portion of NBC's Kentucky Derby coverage May 5 that comprises the race segment of the show rose 5% over year-ago figures. NBC announced that 13.8 million viewers tuned into the race, a 7% boost from 2006.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
NBC Sports' coverage of the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands recorded an 8.3 overnight rating and 18 share, up 12% from last year and equal to the highest overnight rating for the broadcast since 1992, according to ratings released May 6.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Final U.S. national household television ratings confirmed a severe dip in the number of Americans tuned to the Breeders' Cup World Championships this year.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Television ratings were down but Web traffic was up for ESPN's maiden voyage covering the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Monday, November 06, 2006
ABC Sports picked a tough time to get back into the Triple Crown business. Without Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro and Preakness victor Bernardini, the Belmont Stakes was left without a star attraction, and that was reflected in national television ratings for the June 10 running from New York.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Augustin Stable's Smart Growth rallied from the back of the pack along the inside to edge Cherokee's Boy in the $100,000 Brandywine Stakes at Delaware Park Saturday.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
NBC's telecast of the May 20 Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course near Baltimore, Md., drew a slightly higher audience than the 2005 running. The network reported a 5.4 national rating and a 14 share for the program, which ran from 5 to 6:50 p.m. EDT.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The overnight ratings for NBC's coverage of the Preakness Stakes May 20 indicated a small drop-off in viewers from 2005's numbers. The overnights, which measure viewership in 54 major markets, gave the overall telecast a 5.7 rating and a 14 share, down 4% from last year's 5.9/14.
Monday, May 22, 2006
NBC reported ratings for its May 6 Kentucky Derby telecast that were down slightly from 2005 figures, but were in line with the numbers it has received for its Run for the Roses coverage since 2000.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
NBC Sports reported an 8.4 national rating and a 20 share for the race portion (5:45-6:45 p.m. EDT) of its May 6 Kentucky Derby telecast. The rating is slightly down from last year's 9.0/22 national rating for the race portion of the telecast.
Monday, May 08, 2006
National television ratings for NBC's telecast of the Oct. 29 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships from Belmont Park in New York increased slightly from last year's numbers.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
NBC Sports' coverage of the June 11 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) managed a 4.5 national rating/11 share for its 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. EDT telecast.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Without a possible Triple Crown winner on the line, ratings for NBC's June 11 broadcast of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) dropped to an average overnight rating of 5.0 with an 11 share, down from 13.4 with a 27 share from last year when Smarty Jones made his bid for the 2004 Triple Crown.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
The popularity of Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Smarty Jones contributed to an overnight television rating of 7.2 and 16 share for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), up 29% from 2003.
Monday, May 23, 2005
NBC Sports' broadcast of Giacomo's surprise win at the 131st running of the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) notched an 8.2 overnight rating and 19 share, slightly down from an 8.3 rating in 2001, 2003, and 2004.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
National television ratings for the Sunshine Millions on NBC Jan. 29 stayed on a par with year-ago numbers for the event.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
NBC's telecast of the Jan. 29 Sunshine Millions from Gulfstream Park in Florida and Santa Anita Park in California earned modest overnight ratings for the network that ticked down below the 2004 edition.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
NBC's coverage of the Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships registered the lowest television ratings in the 21-year history of the event.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
NBC's coverage of the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Oct. 30 from Lone Star Park drew a smaller television audience than the 2003 telecast from Santa Anita Park, according to overnight ratings.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Saturday's Belmont Stakes (gr. I) win by 36-1 shot Birdstone ended previously unbeaten Smarty Jones' Visa Triple Crown hopes and delivered a 13.4 overnight rating and a 27 share, the best Belmont overnight since a 15.4/47 for Seattle Slew's Triple Crown-clinching victory in 1977, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Sunday, June 06, 2004
The one-hour race segment of NBC's Kentucky Derby coverage May 1, spanning 5:44-6:46 p.m. ET, tied for the highest-rated since 1992.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Final television ratings for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Oct. 25 were down 10% from last year's numbers, NBC announced.
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Television ratings for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships Oct. 25 stayed on an even keel with last year's numbers, according to overnight ratings taken from 55 metered markets.
Monday, October 27, 2003
By Ray Paulick -- How big was Funny Cide's run for this year's Triple Crown? In terms of television ratings, no prime-time program received a higher number during the week of the Belmont Stakes than the final hour of NBC's 90-minute race telecast.
Tuesday, June 17, 2003
The 1 1/2-hour Belmont Stakes telecast on NBC produced an overnight rating of 10.4, the highest for any horse race since the 1990 Kentucky Derby and the highest for a Belmont since 1987, when ratings were introduced. The overnight rating for the race exceeded overnight ratings for other major sporting events over the weekend.
Sunday, June 08, 2003
The national rating for the last 75 minutes of NBC's Preakness Stakes telecast May 17 was down 12% from last year's number of viewers.
Tuesday, May 20, 2003
Coverage of the May 17 Preakness Stakes on NBC from 5-6:45 p.m. (EDT) earned a 5.6 overnight rating and a 15 share, compared with a 6.5 overnight rating and 15 share in 2002.
Monday, May 19, 2003
Final TV ratings for last Saturday's telecast of the Kentucky Derby were down 10% from 2002 figures, following a trend of lower ratings for major sporting events in the second quarter of 2003.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
Overnight ratings for NBC's coverage of major Triple Crown prep races Saturday, April 12, showed a slight increase in viewership over last year's numbers.
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
A three-year decline in television ratings for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships ended this year with the 19th running at Arlington Park Oct. 26.
Thursday, October 31, 2002
New York Racing Association officials expected Belmont Stakes Day to be big, but what they got by the end of the day blew everyone away.
Monday, June 10, 2002
The final television ratings for the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) fell one rating point from a year ago to 7.1 and captured 18% of the viewing audience.
Thursday, May 09, 2002
Despite heavy competition from Tiger Woods and The Masters golf tournament, NBC's live coverage of the Toyota Bluegrass Stakes (gr. I) produced solid television ratings.
Friday, April 19, 2002
NBC, which enjoyed solid ratings in its inaugural year of covering racing's Triple Crown in 2001, partially due to cross-promoting the races with its NBA playoff games, will no longer be televising NBA games when its current contract runs out in the spring of 2002.
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
The five-hour Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championship telecast on NBC earned a 1.7 rating and captured 4% of the viewing audience. They were the lowest ratings the championship has ever received.
Thursday, November 01, 2001
The last of four programs in the NTRA Champions series on CBS earned an overnight rating of 1.1 and captured 3% of the viewing audience. The ratings equaled the combined numbers for last year's NTRA Champions on Fox series.
Monday, July 30, 2001