The CW Network and LIV Golf League Garner Over 3.2 Million Total Viewers Across All Platforms for First Three-Day Event of 2023
Inaugural Event Generated Double Digit Ratings Increases in Top U.S. Markets and Increased CW Primetime Ratings by +24%
Downloads of The CW App Jumped +40% Month to Month Prior to Launch of LIV Golf
2023 LIV Golf League Continues on March 17-19 From The Gallery Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona
March 3, 2023 (Burbank, CA) — The opening weekend of the 2023 LIV Golf League on The CW Network generated an audience of over 3.2 million total viewers across all linear and digital platforms, as viewers tuned into the groundbreaking golf league’s three-day competition on February 24-26. Data is provided in partnership with audience measurement provider iSpot (Source: iSpotTV linear viewing data P2+ for 2/24-2/26/23) along with internal CW and LIV Golf digital data.
Part of a new rights deal with The CW, the first LIV Golf event on broadcast television saw the network’s local market ratings for the time period increase by double digits in ten top U.S. markets compared to their year-to-date weekend averages for the time period. In addition, The CW’s weekend primetime national ratings were up +24% among total viewers compared to the network’s weekend season to date average, according to Nielsen.
An indication of how new technology and capabilities are shaping consumer habits, new downloads of The CW App jumped by nearly 1,000,000 in February, a +40% month-to-month increase in the lead-up to LIV Golf’s 2023 debut. LIV Golf Plus, unveiled on February 23, was also the weekend’s highest downloaded free sports app across major platforms.
“This was a great start for LIV Golf and a great debut for CW Sports,” said Dennis Miller, President of The CW Network. “We are really encouraged by the dramatic viewership increases we saw across our affiliates. The performance of LIV Golf is very competitive with other longstanding sports leagues, and we are confident that the audience for the league will continue growing throughout the season, as The CW delivers high quality sports programming to our broadcasting and advertising partners for the first time.”
“Our first weekend of live coverage for the 2023 LIV Golf season exceeded expectations,” said Will Staeger, LIV Golf’s Chief Media Officer. “It represented the LIV Golf League’s debut on The CW, The CW App, and this week’s highest downloaded free sports app, LIV Golf Plus. LIV has diversified its consumption model, tailoring our distribution to the way viewers consume their content — and these numbers reflect the new ways that sports are watched. This is a long-term game of growing our viewership, but we are delighted with our start in the U.S. and extremely encouraged by our global engagement. Our preliminary rollout with 12 international broadcast partners and counting signifies a far-reaching demand for LIV Golf, which will be delivered in over 160 territories to more than 380 million homes worldwide.”
In order to most accurately measure cross-platform premium video campaigns and sponsorships associated with the 2023 LIV Golf League across its linear and digital properties, The CW Network has partnered with iSpot, the real-time measurement company, which allows the network to measure the event across multiple platforms, not just on linear. iSpot, which has reached agreements with multiple networks for testing and deploying its proprietary software over the last year, offers leading cross-platform audience and advertising measurement solutions to calculate the reach, frequency, average minute-by-minute audience, and impact of viewers and campaigns of the LIV Golf League on CW affiliates, other local stations carrying LIV Golf in key markets, as well as The CW App.
This is the first full, official season for the LIV Golf League that features 48 world-class golfers competing amongst 12 teams in pursuit of the LIV Golf League Individual Championship and Team Championship. In the season’s first of 14 events, Charles Howell III (16 under par) won the LIV Golf Mayakoba Individual title while also securing the Team title with teammates Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey and Anirban Lahiri of Crushers GC (26 under par).
LIV’s coverage includes a shotgun start, distinctive live leaderboard, enhanced drone coverage, statistics-driven graphics, and fast-paced coverage featuring nearly twice as many golf shots per hour than traditional golf coverage. It also features the most diverse announcing team in the sport, made up of Arlo White, David Feherty, Jerry Foltz, Su-Ann Heng, Dom Boulet, and Troy Mullins.
All 2023 LIV Golf League events air exclusively from 1:00-6:00pm ET on Saturdays and Sundays on The CW Network’s linear and digital platforms, with Friday rounds carried on The CW App. All eight U.S.-based tournaments and six international events are broadcast across the U.S. and streamed live to The CW App, which has been downloaded over 92 million times and is available on all major platforms.
League play continues with LIV Golf Tucson, March 17-19 at The Gallery Golf Club in Arizona. For more information on how to watch the 2023 LIV Golf League, please visit https://www.cwtv.com/thecw/liv-golf-how-to-watch/.
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About LIV Golf Investments
LIV Golf Investments is a newly formed company, with group companies in the USA and UK and Asian offices to follow. Its purpose is to holistically supercharge professional golf on a global scale to help unlock the sports’ untapped potential. Greg Norman is the first and founding CEO of LIV Golf Investments. PIF, one of the world’s largest wealth funds with a diverse international investment portfolio, is the majority shareholder in LIV Golf Investments.
About The CW Network
The CW Network, LLC is one of America’s major broadcast networks and reaches 100% of US markets. The CW delivers 14 hours of primetime programming per week in addition to sports and other entertainment programming and is the exclusive broadcast home to LIV Golf. The fully ad-supported CW App, with over 92 million downloads to date, is available for free to consumers on all major platforms and is home to the latest episodes and seasons of The CW’s primetime programming, live streaming of its sports content, and a library of entertaining film and television content for on-demand viewing. The CW is 75%-owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company and largest CW affiliate group with 37 CW and CW Plus affiliates, covering 32% of the population. For more information about The CW, please visit www.cwtv.com.
Media Contacts:
Beth Feldman, 646/563-8334
Beth.Feldman@cwtv.com
Rob Moynihan, 760/519-5543
Rob.Moynihan@cwtvconsultant.com
Cyndee Ellefson, 818/977-2566
Cyndee.Ellefson@cwtv.com
Jodi Karp, 818/977-2609
Jodi.Karp@cwtv.com
For LIV Golf:
Jane MacNeille
Allen Barrett
media@livgolf.com
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