LIV Golf’s Network TV Debut Scored Poor Viewership on CW

Regardless of whether LIV Golf is being paid by the CW Network to air its events, the second year of the golf league does have a chance to attract traditional TV viewership—something it did not have when events were only streamed on YouTube in 2022.

The early returns are in, and they are unfortunately not positive for LIV Golf.

Saturday’s second-round coverage of the circuit’s tournament at Mayakoba, Mexico, drew a 0.2 rating in the 26 top markets that carried it on its CW affiliate.

Oof: 0.2 overnight rating for LIV golf in the 26 metered markets that carried it on CW.

— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) February 26, 2023

On WPIX, which is the CW affiliate in the New York City market, a reported 7,679 viewers tuned in.

Am told that on CW’s flagship station (WPIX in NYC) LIV Golf averaged a 0.08 household rating and 7,679 viewers on Saturday.

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) February 27, 2023

For clarity, as far as the New York City market goes the Nielsen estimates for the current TV season are:

Households: 7,726,580
People: 20,398, 661 https://t.co/T2O2In9Ayn

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) February 27, 2023

While some viewers did watch golf from Mexico, it wasn’t the highest-rated show on the CW on Saturday. That honor goes to “World’s Funniest Animals.”

We’re still waiting to see what the Sunday numbers were for the final round.

For context, we know the first round of The Honda Classic on the PGA Tour drew an average of 342,000 on Golf Channel, which is available in about half of the homes that CW is. That would translate to a 0.5 rating. The third round of the Genesis Invitational the previous Saturday, which had the best PGA Tour field of 2023 and included Tiger Woods, had a 1.8 rating on CBS.

Cover Image Via LIV GOLF Media Hub