ESPN Friday Masters Ratings, Audience, Rise for Second Straight Year

ESPN's live telecast of Round 2 of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Friday, April 8, earned a 2.2 U.S. household rating, averaging 3.060 million viewers, according to fast national data from Nielsen Media. The telecast aired from 3-7:30 p.m. ET.

The rating and viewership rose for the second consecutive year for the Friday telecast, up from a 2.1 rating and an average of 2.952 million viewers in 2015 and a 1.8 rating and an average of 2.465 million viewers in 2014.

Viewers were able to watch more than half of the round played by leader Jordan Spieth as he and the other players battled wind and tough scoring conditions in the 80th edition of the Masters.

Friday's telecast peaked with a 2.6 rating and 3.727 million viewers from 5:30-6 p.m. During that time, the telecast followed longtime golf star Tom Watson, competing in his final Masters but not making the cut, as he completed his last round at Augusta with a walk to the 18th green.

Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., was the nation's highest-rated metered market with a 3.9 rating for Friday's telecast, followed by Louisville, Ky., at 3.7 and Columbus, Ohio, at 3.6. Fort Myers-Naples, Fla., Knoxville, Tenn., and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla., tied at 3.5.

Completing the top 10 metered markets were Buffalo, Cincinnati and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., at 3.4, and Charlotte, N.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla., at 3.3.

ESPN also enjoyed another strong day of digital viewership on Friday with the most-watched Masters Round 2 ever on WatchESPN, following the most-watched Round 1 ever on the service the previous day. Round 2 had an average minute audience of 49,000 and 13.2 total minutes viewed, both up 76 percent from 2015.

The Friday telecast completed ESPN's two days of live Masters coverage, but SportsCenter and ESPN.com will continue to report from the event throughout the weekend.