NBC Sports presentation of the 149th Kentucky Derby (G1), won first magician achieved an average Total Viewer (TAD) of 14.8 million viewers—making the event the most watched sporting event and the second most watched show (behind the Academy Awards) since Super Bowl LVII in February.
Other viewership highlights from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby coverage:
- With 14.8 million viewers, the Kentucky Derby was the 14th time in a row NBC Sports featured “Run for the Roses” with the top 14.5 million viewers (excluding the 2020 event, which was held in October). 9).
- Views peaked at 16.6 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET on NBC, when Mage took the lead in the hometretch competition and won by a margin. Mage is only the third horse to win the Kentucky Derby without racing at the age of 2, joining the 2018 Triple Crown winner justification and Apollo (1882).
- The TV-only average of 14.4 million viewers was NBC’s most-watched show since January’s NFL Knockout.
- Led by NBC’s Peacock streaming service, the event achieved an Average Minute Audience (AMA) record of 371,000 viewers across NBCUniversal’s streaming platforms—a 50% increase from with last year (247,000).
- NBC-TV’s household rating for the broadcast (6:31-7:21 p.m. ET) is 6.9/24.
Total audience distribution based on live plus same-day metrics from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
| Places | Market | Rating |
| first. | Louisville | 26.6/65 |
| 2. | Cincinnati | 16.3/46 |
| 3. | Ft. Myers | 15.2/41 |
| 4. | Knoxville | 13.4/32 |
| 5. | West Palm Beach | 13.2/32 |
| 6. | Buffalo | 11.7/33 |
| 7. | New Orleans | 10.8/24 |
| 8. | Hartford | 10.7/33 |
| 9. | Baltimore | 10.4/35 |
| ten. | Minneapolis | 10.2/32 |
In two weeks, the 148th Preakness Stakes (G1) will air on NBC Sports on May 20. The magician tries to take the next step in his Triple Crown quest. NBC Sports covers Preakness from Racecourse Pimlico in Baltimore begins with Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) on Friday, May 19, at 4:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. Preakness coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on CNBC and Peacock, then continues at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
Wizard wins the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
This press release has been edited by BloodHorse Staff for content and style.
