Michelle Wie’s win in the LPGA’s Lorena Ochoa Invitational, her first career Tour win, sent Golf Channel to new ratings heights for women’s golf. Wie’s win on Sunday gave Golf Channel its second highest ratings for an LPGA round this year.
Wie’s Win Pulls Top Rating for
GOLF CHANNEL and LPGA Tour
ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 19, 2009) – Michelle Wie’s first victory at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational garnered one of the year’s best LPGA Tour ratings for GOLF CHANNEL.
Sunday’s 0.72 final-round rating represents the second-highest-rated LPGA Tour round on GOLF CHANNEL and second-most-watched LPGA Tour telecast on any cable network this year. Day 3 of the 2009 Solheim Cup owns the top spot.
The number also represents a 60 percent increase over the tournament’s final round in 2008 and is double the typical final-round ratings for LPGA Tour events on GOLF CHANNEL in 2009 (excluding the SBS Open at Turtle Bay and McDonald’s LPGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola).
Also noted over the weekend, the 0.36 final round rating for the PGA TOUR’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic represented an 18 percent increase over 2008.
Additionally, GOLF CHANNEL’s heavily promoted “Tiger World Tour,” which began with the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions event in China and concluded with a Woods’ victory in Australia at the JBWere Masters, achieved the highest-rated Saturday/Sunday tournament rounds for all European Tour telecasts in 2009.
It goes to show how important Wie is to the LPGA and if she continues to win, perhaps we’ll be talking about a “Michelle Wie Effect” on Golf Channel’s ratings. Next year, Golf Channel begins a new TV contract with the LPGA Tour.
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