Sorenstam brings ratings to USA Network

USA Today ^ | 5/27/2003

[discostu]

I have to lodge my normal protest: kids shouldn't be playing pro-sports. Not even something tame like the LPGA. That out of the way, watch out world, if she keeps her form and actually gets stronger and better she's gonna make some serious waves.

[presidio9]

Geeze, before you get so impressed with yourself next time, why doncha actually read the article first:

"Before Tuesday's downpour, 8.7 inches of rain already had fallen in recent days at forecaster Lushine's home in Pembroke Pines. Five to 10 inches have been reported in parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties during the past week."

This has been a national news story for several days now.

[ewing]

Michelle only gets 4-6 exemptions per year to play. (due to her obvious age restrictions)

The amazing thing is that she is still growing at 5'11 and bombing it 300 yards..she may make Tigers records look miniscule on the LPGA tour!

[discostu]

Problem, the TV ratings for the Indy 500 were down. Not to be expected if rain in the NE caused the Colonial to have a 29% ratings bump. As for my conclusion being "idiotic", take it up with the Indy Star.

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/9/046413-9969-036.html

NEW YORK

National television ratings for the Indianapolis 500 were down slightly over the telecast of the race last year.

The Indy 500 drew a 5.1 rating with a 13 share on ABC, down slightly from last year's overnights, when it had a 5.3 and a 14 share.

The race was challenged by Fox's evening telecast of the Coca-Cola 600, which had two rain delays but still drew a 4.9 overnight rating with a 10 share, up over its 4.8 a year ago.

Annika Sorenstam's presence at the Colonial helped improve ratings on CBS by 4 percent over last year, even though she didn't play on the weekend.

Sorenstam missed the cut Friday, but Sunday's overnight rating for the Colonial was 2.7 on CBS. Kenny Perry won the tournament by six strokes and went into Sunday leading by eight.

Overall, the ratings were the highest for the tournament since a 4.1 in 1997, when Tiger Woods made his only appearance in the event.

Sorenstam's first two rounds also gave USA Network record ratings.

The Thursday-Friday ratings on USA, featuring Sorenstam, were a record for the network's PGA Tour coverage at an average of 2.1 for two days, and 2.9 on Friday.

The rating is the percentage of all homes with TVs, whether or not they are in use. Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets in the United States, nearly 70 percent of the country.

Each overnight rating point represents about 735,000 TV homes. The share is the percentage of televisions in use tuned to a program.

[discostu]

I have to object because I always object when the issue comes up for the NBA or tennis and if I gave it a pass at the LPGA I'd be a hypocrite. It's universally wrong to have kids playing in pro-sports.

All that said, what a performance.

[discostu]

Oops type, 19% increase of Colonial viewership. We knew that. But I know certain people will obsess.

[TomB]

. The entire Northeast, which has the highest population density in the country had terrible weather all weekend.

Whoops, a little backpedaling there. I thought it rained all weekend?

Anyway how bad could the weather have been in the Northeast when I spent all Saturday assembling a trampoline in the back yard, and the kids spent all Sunday using it and the attendace for the BoSox was 32,000 Saturday and 34,000 Sunday and the Yankess had 40,000 and 35,000?

Sorry, if the weather was "terrible" in the "entire Northeast", the attendance for those ball games wouldn't have been so high and my kids would have their trampoline.

[presidio9]

This would be a good point, were it not for the FACT that Indy 500 ratings have been steadily declining. Auto racing in general is not popular in the northest, where the bad weather was a factor.

Face it, Sorenstam was not playing. What incentive was there for the casual golf fan to tune in if she was not part of the equation?

This is a political correctness spin, nothing more.

[TomB]

In PARTS of Broward and Miami-Dade? What about the rest of the country?

[TomB]

You keep ingnoring the main point, which is that this was a success for B of A

Since you ignored my previous post, I'll post it again:

This is how sponsorship works. The prospective sponsor looks at the PAST ratings and press mentions of an event, and then negotiates a deal with the PGA and the networks. Obviously, the amount of money B of A spent on the Colonial was based on how it did in the past. However this year they came up with a gimmick that almost tripled their Thursday and Friday ratings, increased their Weekend ratings by almost 20% and saw press mentions skyrocket.

THAT is what is called good marketing. Face it Bank of America made out VERY well on the event.

[presidio9]

I'm not backpedaling. Take your pick of why more people were watching. Maybe there are a lot of Kenny Perry fans out there. But the idea that more people watched because of Sorenstam, even though she wasn't playing is just plain goofy. Think about it, huh?

[presidio9]

No, the main point is that she had no business playing in this tournament. She showed that she didn't. All of this residual crap is just you trying to save face.

[discostu]

But if the weather in the NE made so many more people stay inside and watch TV this weekend that the Colonial got a HUGE increase in ratings then Indy should have reversed the trend.

Face it, it was a marketing BONANZA and you are 100% full of crap. The insentive was that they'd heard about the damn tournament for weeks on end might as well see what all the fuss was about.

There's no political correctness in this and it isn't spin. NOTHING else had that kind of ratings boost this weekend the Colonial got. Nothing. If weather was the explanation EVERYTHING would have. Obviously your explanation is WRONG.

[agarrett]

Did people change their routine to catch a golf tournament that did not include the player they were interested in, or did more people watch because more people were in watching TV this weekend.

  I'd have thought the answer was fairly obvious, really. More people watched because of all the publicity the tournament had received, in both print and television. And the tournament got that extra coverage because Sorenstam was playing.

  Now, I assert that without any proof, but it seems pretty straightforward to me.

Drew Garrett

[presidio9]

Face it, it was a marketing BONANZA

You are delusional.

[discostu]

Tripling of the weekday audience
19% increase of weekend audience

BONANZA

[presidio9]

the tournament got that extra coverage because Sorenstam was playing.

You can make that point for Thursday and Friday, if you like. As for the weekend: If you think that a lot of people changed their holiday weekend plans and stayed inside to watch golf because of Sorenstam, even though she wasn't playing, you probably also believed reports that Chelsea Clinton has grown up into a hip and sexy young woman.

[agarrett]

No, the main point is that she had no business playing in this tournament. She showed that she didn't.

  May I presume that you think the same of the 11 people who finished lower than her? They also had no business playing in the tournament? If they did have business playing there, why did Sorenstam not?

Drew Garrett

[TomB]

All of this residual crap is just you trying to save face.

Wrong again! This just isn't your day. This is my post from a thread BEFORE the tournament:

As I said earlier, I think she'll get smoked and won't make the cut. But it all depends on how she handles the pressure.

But what can't be denied is that this has been an advertising bonanza for the Sponsor, Bank of America.

As you can see, I didn't think she'd do well, but I did know B of A would make out.

[TomB]

But the idea that more people watched because of Sorenstam, even though she wasn't playing is just plain goofy. Think about it, huh?

They watched because there was an increase in media coverage. Perhaps many people caught some of the television coverage on Thursay and Friday and decided to follow the weekend rounds. That is how marketing works, create a buzz and feed off of it.