BBC2 Masters Coverage a Success Despite McIlroy Slip

The final round of the Masters golf tournament won by South African Charl Schwartzel was a big hit for UK broadcast channel BBC2, ailment peaking with 3.6 million viewers, impotent a 16.3 per cent share of the audience, ailment at 10pm GMT.

However, the audience did slip away along with the challenge of long-time leader, 21-year-old Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, with five hours of coverage between 7pm and midnight averaging 2.9 million viewers, a 14.4 per cent share.

It was also a success for the BBC’s HD channel, which had an average of 278,000 viewers, a 1.4 per cent share, between 7pm and midnight, peaking with 394,000 viewers between 9.15pm and 9.30pm.

BBC2 had about six times the average audience for Sky Sports 2?s coverage of the event, which drew an average of 521,000 viewers between 6.30pm and 12.30am though the pay-per-view channel’s coverage also peaked at 10pm, with 700,000 viewers.

Sky’s coverage was available in less than half the homes that have BBC2. Sky Sports 2?s Masters coverage was the 10th most-watched programme in multichannel on Sunday.

Last year the Augusta tournament attracted an average of 3.1 million across BBC2 and BBC HD, with 2.3 million in 2009 and 2.4 million in 2008.