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An average of 3.9 million people watched ESPN’s telecast of the second round of the Masters Tournament on Friday, the most-viewed Friday at the Masters since 2013 and an increase of 50 percent over last year’s audience of 2.6 million, according to Nielsen Fast National data.
The second round, which aired from 3 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. ET, ranks as the third most-viewed Friday since ESPN began airing the Masters in 2008.
In addition to being up 50 percent over 2017’s Friday audience, the telecast also was up 28 percent over the audience of 3.1 million for the second round in 2016.
For its two days of Masters coverage, ESPN averaged 3.5 million viewers, up 46 percent from 2017 (2.4 million) and the highest two-day average since 2013 (also 3.5 million).
The Masters also helped draw audiences to SportsCenter, with the edition airing following the completion of Friday’s play earning an overnight rating of 1.3, an increase of 117 percent from the 0.6 rating for the same timeslot last year.
Also yesterday, SportsCenter at the Masters, which aired from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. with expanded quick-turnaround highlights and analysis of in-progress play, earned a 0.6 metered market average, up 200 percent over the 0.2 rating from the same time last year.
ESPN’s digital platforms also continued to see year-over-year growth on Friday. The Men’s Golf section of the ESPN App saw an increase of 140 percent in total minutes spent on Friday vs. Friday of last year (28,487,437 in 2018 vs. 11,867,590 in 2017) and visits were up 60 percent (5,402,758 in 2018 vs. 3,375,901 last year).
The golf section of ESPN.com was also up 67 percent in visits vs. Friday of last year (3,338,179 vs. 1,999,784 in 2017).
ESPN’s live Masters coverage ended Friday but SportsCenter and ESPN.com will continue to report from the Masters throughout the weekend.
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