Wimbledon Final Earns Best Overnight Since 2004
NEW YORK – July 9, 2007 - NBC Sports’ coverage of the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET), won by Federer in five sets, earned a 3.2 overnight rating and a 9 share, the best for a Gentlemen’s Final since 2004 (Federer-Andy Roddick, 3.6/10) and an increase of 10 percent over last year (Federer-Nadal, 2.9/8, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET), according to overnight ratings released today by Nielsen Media Research. NBC’s John McEnroe called the final “one of the all-time matches I’ve seen at Wimbledon.” Federer captured his fifth straight Wimbledon championship tying Bjorn Borg’s record for consecutive Wimbledon titles and his 11th career major championship overall, trailing only Roy Emerson (12) and Pete Sampras (14).
Saturday’s “Breakfast at Wimbledon” coverage of the Ladies’ Final and men’s semifinals drew a 2.8 overnight rating and 8 share, up 27 percent from 2006 (2.2/7), as Venus Williams defeated Marion Bartoli to win her fourth Wimbledon crown.
Top metered markets for Sunday’s coverage of the Gentlemen’s Final:
1. West Palm Beach 7.0/17
2. Richmond 5.8/12
3. Fort Myers 5.5/14
4. St. Louis 5.3/12
5. Indianapolis 4.7/12
6. Minneapolis 4.4/13
T7. Providence 4.2/11
T7. Tampa 4.2/11
T9. Cleveland 4.1/11
T9. Atlanta 4.1/9
Viewership numbers will be available when national ratings become available
on Thursday.
NBC Sports last week announced an agreement with The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club on a long-term extension of its contract to broadcast The Championships, Wimbledon. This year marked the 39th consecutive year NBC Sports has broadcast the Championships, the longest partnership in the network’s history.
Members of the media can get more information about NBC Universal and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at www.nbcumv.com.
