Golf Channel: Most-Watched July Ever

Golf Channel’s Coverage of The Open Drives Record Viewership and Builds Upon Five Straight Quarters of Year-over-Year Growth

(ORLANDO, Fla.) – The momentum Golf Channel has generated in 2016 continues with its most-watched July in the network’s 21-year history. July saw Golf Channel post its most-watched day ever and place as the No. 1 sports network during the network’s inaugural coverage of The Open, overall building upon five straight quarters of year-over-year growth. Ultimately, Golf Channel drew more than 16 million unique viewers in July (+17% vs. July ’15) – most-viewed month year-to-date – and had 17 programs average more than a half million viewers (+31% vs. July ’15, 116 programs +500k viewers YTD, +29% vs 2015 YTD). And Golf Channel continues to deliver the most-affluent audience in television in Total Day and Primetime, according to data released by The Nielsen Company.

“This surge in viewership is a result of investment in high-quality programming to reach more viewers across all platforms,” said Mike McCarley, president, golf, NBC Sports Group. “We look for this momentum to continue with the unprecedented slate of upcoming events, including golf’s return to the Olympics, the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs and a Ryder Cup hosted in the U.S.”

Golf Channel Viewership: Most-Watched July Ever
For 24-hour Total Day (6AM-6AM), 136,000 average viewers per minute were tuned into Golf Channel during July, a +21% increase vs. July 2015, and second-most-watched month this year. Highlights driving this growth include:
· The Open, Golf Channel’s first coverage of a men’s major championship (July 14-17):
o Most-watched day in Golf Channel history on Friday, July 15 (638,000 average viewers per min)
o Golf Channel ranked as No. 1 Sports Network on both Thursday, July 14 and Friday, July 15 for Total Day, as well as during the network’s coverage on Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17
o   Golf Central’s Live From The Open platform was most-watched for this event on record (2006-2016)

· The Senior Open presented by Rolex (July 21-24):
o Golf Channel and NBC’s coverage +90% vs. 2015, most-watched since 2009
o Golf Channel’s coverage of the Final Round was the most-watched for a senior golf event year-to-date (602,000, +72% vs. 2015 on ESPN 2) and most-watched final round at this event since 2011 on ESPN

· Ricoh Women’s British Open (July 28-31)
o Golf Channel and NBC’s coverage +79% vs. 2015, most-watched since 2009
o Final Round on NBC is second most-watched Final Round of an LPGA major this year (858,000)
o Final Round on NBC is most-watched at this event since 2009 on ABC (997,000)

Additional Golf Channel Viewership Highlights for July:
· PGA TOUR: +9% YOY
· European Tour: +25% YOY
· PGA TOUR Champions: +15% YOY, excludes The Senior Open
· LPGA Tour: +9% YOY, excludes Women’s British Open
· Millennial Viewership (P25-34): +67% YOY

Golf Channel Digital: Video and Streaming Fueling Growth
· Best month on record for minutes streamed and total page views
· During the four days of NBC Sports’ coverage of The Open, 58 million minutes were streamed via Golf Channel Digital. This is more than any previous quarter in Golf Channel’s history.
· Total minutes streamed reached 71M; +550% from July 2015
· Video starts reached 6.0M; +30% from July 2015
· Page views reached 116M; +8% from July 2015
· Total monthly uniques reached 6.8M; +6% from July 2015