How did the weather help out the Kentucky Derby TV ratings

Mudders Day at the Derby

Almost an inch of rain fell on Derby Day this year. Most of that was from mid-morning until mid-afternoon and again during the evening.

This was the 7th year in a row that rain has fallen at some point on Derby Day in Louisville and that is a record.

It was the coldest race time temperature since 1989. That was the year it snowed Derby afternoon.

In Louisville the TV ratings were up more than 35% from last year.
WAVE had a 43.7 rating which means 43.7% of the homes in the viewing area had the Derby on.
The share was 69 which means 69% of all TV's turned on had the Derby on. This was from 6:00-7:00 PM.
Obviously the rain and cold kept people inside and watching TV.

Nationwide, the rating was 10.4 with a 23 share. This was the second most watched since 1989. That year also had cold weather over much of the country.
Let's compare this year's Derby ratings with some other sporting events......
World Series: 7.6 rating... 12 share.... can you remember who played?
NBA Finals:  10.1 rating... 17 share
Masters Golf: 10 rating... 21 share but the last half hour peaked at 13.4/25
Super Bowl: 48/71
NCAA Basketball Championship:  14/23.... in Louisville it was 54/70

So the Kentucky Derby handily beat the World Series and the NBA for U.S. ratings.

Derby ratings for metered markets

The chart on the right shows the top 10 rated TV markets for the Kentucky Derby. Obviously, Louisville leads the way. Lexington is not a metered market and their ratings will not be known until mid-June.

Of these top 10 markets, 8 had either a cold day or rain which would increase the number of people staying inside to watch TV.

Of the top 10 overall TV markets by size, only 2 (Atlanta and Boston) had inclement weather near the time of the Derby. However, a large portion of the U.S. had rain and/or cold weather which helped out the total number of people staying inside to watch. It even snowed on Derby Day in Minneapolis and Omaha.

I don't think people were tuning in to see the stars  because this was just about the worst year ever for celebrities at the track. The Kentucky Derby has made a comeback in popularity around the country but the weather did have an impact on the number of people watching on TV, especially in Louisville.