U.S. Open Monday ratings best in 30 years

U.S. OPEN PLAYOFF EARNS BEST MONDAY GOLF RATING IN 30 YEARS

7.6 Rating Produces a 90% Increase Over Last U.S. Open Playoff in 2001

NBCSports.com Has Record Day

NEW YORK - June 17, 2008 - NBC Sports' broadcast of yesterday's dramatic conclusion to the U.S. Open earned a 7.6 overnight rating and 20 share (2-4:45 p.m. ET), the best Monday golf rating in 30 years (Phoenix Open, Jan. 16, 1978, 7.7/20 national rating), and a 90 percent increase over the last time the Open finished with a Monday playoff (2001 - 4.0/12). Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Open title and 14th major championship overall, edging Rocco Mediate on the 19th playoff hole.

"What a great weekend it was and unbelievably it was topped off by more sustained drama on Monday, with an audience not seen in three decades," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports and Olympics.

NBC Sports primetime broadcast (3-9 p.m. ET) of Sunday's final round produced the highest national rating for the championship in six years, a 7.5 rating and 17 share, a 17 percent increase over last year (6.4/16). The rating peaked from 8:30-9 p.m. ET at an 11.5/21 as Tiger Woods birdied the 18th hole to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate.

The 10.0/20 rating from 7-9 p.m. ET is the best in that time period for any network since ABC's Feb. 24 broadcast of the Academy Awards. The Open on NBC dominated the competition, more than doubling its closest competitor (CBS, 7-9 p.m. ET, 4.7/9) and earning NBC its best number in that time period since the 2006 Torino Olympic Games. Sunday's primetime coverage averaged a 4.6/17 in Adults 18-49 and 16.4 million viewers overall, ranking No. 1 in its time period in all key ratings categories -- Adults, Men and Women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54, plus total viewers.

NBCSPORTS.COM HAS RECORD DAY: NBCSports.com on Monday saw its highest-trafficked day in the website's history, setting single-day records for page views (9.14 million) and unique users (2.03 million). Additionally, NBCSports.com streamed the U.S. Open playoff live, attracting a site record of more than 1.5 million streams with each stream averaging more than 17 minutes.

MONDAY'S TOP 10 MARKETS:
1. West Palm Beach, 14.0/32
2. Ft. Myers, 13.0/29
3. Tampa, 12.5/29
4. San Diego, 11.5/31
5. Las Vegas, 11.1/23
6. Orlando, 10.9/24
7. Pittsburgh, 10.7/24
8. Louisville, 10.3/23
9. Greensboro, 10.0/23
10. Buffalo, 9.9/24