Golf Channel's PLAYERS Coverage Sparks All-Time Viewership High

The Players Championship's coverage on NBC and Golf Channel last week caught the attention of America with record audiences for its tournament coverage and signature programming according to data released today by The Nielsen Company.

NBC Sports Group's comprehensive coverage of The Players experienced surges in viewership across the board, highlighted by:

- NBC's final round coverage on Sunday garnering 7.6 million viewers (+59% YOY), 5.0 rating, making it the most-watched final round at The Players in more than 20 years
- NBC's third round coverage on Saturday pulling in 3.7 million viewers (+12%), 2.6 rating, which was the best since 2009
- Golf Channel's first round coverage on Thursday posting the most-watched first round in the history of The Players with 1.7 million viewers (+54% YOY)

Golf Channel posted its most-viewed week ever for The Players on record as more than 11.5 million unique viewers (+23% YOY) tuned in to Golf Channel during the week. It also was

Golf Channel's most-watched week ever for The Players with 212,000 average viewers per minute for 24-hour Total Day (6AM-6AM), which represents a 25% increase year-over-year. Contributing to this success was record numbers for Golf Channel's news programming and digital content including:

- 96 hours of LIVE FROM The Players - 160,000 average viewers (+50% YOY)
- Golf Channel's LIVE FROM The Players audience peaked on Sunday with 1.4 million average viewers for both the 15 minutes leading into and out of NBC's coverage (1:15-1:30 PM and 7:15-7:30 PM)
- Most-watched LIVE FROM The Players on Sunday from 8 AM to 1:30 PM - 679,000 average viewers (+20% YOY)
- Most-watched "Prime-time" LIVE FROM with Sunday's night telecast (7:11 PM - 9:11 PM) delivering 646,000 average viewers (+339% YOY)
- GolfChannel.com drew 1.08 million unique visitors, 50% YOY, making it the website's most-clicked week ever for The Players
- Golf Channel Mobile App drew 319K unique visitors, 69% YOY, making it the app's most-clicked week ever for The Players

As the fastest-growing network on television, Golf Channel is a multimedia, golf entertainment and services company based in Orlando, Fla. The Golf Channel cable network, co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1995 and part of the NBC Sports Group, is available in more than 120 million homes worldwide through cable, satellite and wireless companies. Exclusive partnerships with the world's top tours allow Golf Channel to feature more live golf coverage than all other networks combined, added to a programming schedule distinguished by golf's best news, instruction and original programming. Golf Channel's digital platform of businesses is led by www.GolfChannel.com, a leading golf destination on the Internet, delivering unmatched coverage of the world of golf, as well as services that help the recreational player with how to play, what to play and where to play golf.

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