Masters TV spike reported

CBS drew its biggest Masters final-round audience in 11 years on Sunday, with Rory McIlroy’s win averaging about 14 million viewers. (sports.yahoo.com) Yahoo Sports reported the telecast averaged 13.995 million viewers from 2:00 p.m. to 7:17 p.m. Eastern time and peaked at 20.049 million. Saturday’s third round topped 8.1 million viewers, the best Saturday number for the tournament since 2019. (sports.yahoo.com) The finish gave CBS a second straight strong Masters Sunday after McIlroy’s 2025 playoff win drew 12.707 million viewers, up 33 percent from 2024. Yahoo Sports said that 2025 telecast was CBS’s biggest Masters final round since 2018. (sports.yahoo.com) This year’s tournament had the kind of leaderboard swings television executives want. Golf Channel said Justin Rose briefly led on the front nine before McIlroy pulled back in front, and Scottie Scheffler finished one shot behind McIlroy at 11-under. (golfchannel.com) Golf Channel said McIlroy finished at 12-under to become the fourth player to win the Masters in consecutive years. The final leaderboard had Justin Rose, Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton and Cameron Young tied for third at 10-under. (golfchannel.com) The ratings arrived alongside a backlash over the broadcast itself. Yahoo Sports and Front Office Sports both reported that CBS lost track of McIlroy’s and Cameron Young’s approach shots on the 18th hole during the closing minutes. (sports.yahoo.com) (frontofficesports.com) Front Office Sports said Masters.com showed an angle of McIlroy’s ball finishing in a bunker even as the CBS telecast left viewers waiting to find it. The same report said CBS then used a camera angle on McIlroy’s winning putt that obscured the cup. (frontofficesports.com) Jim Nantz defended the production on Tuesday, saying on “The Pat McAfee Show,” “It’s live television. We all make mistakes,” according to Front Office Sports. The outlet said CBS and Augusta National both declined comment for its report on what went wrong. (frontofficesports.com) The audience still showed up in force. Yahoo Sports said Paramount+ had its biggest day for golf on Sunday, even as the loudest postmortems focused on the shots viewers never clearly saw. (sports.yahoo.com)