Kentucky Derby television viewership highest since 2019

The NBC broadcast of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday generated a 7.7 rating and a 24 share, according to the network, increases of 8.5 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, over the measures generated for the Derby broadcast last year.

Viewership averaged 16 million people for the race portion of the broadcast, running from 6:31 p.m. to 7:21 p.m. Eastern, NBC said, the highest viewership number for the Derby since 2019, prior to the pandemic. Viewership peaked at 19 million people during the race itself, NBC said.

NBC said that the “TV-only average audience of 15.8 million” was the highest for the network for that specific measure since the Super Bowl earlier this year. The Super Bowl annually posts the highest viewership number for any sports broadcast on television.

Total commingled betting this year on the Kentucky Derby and its undercard was a record $263.2 million, according to charts.

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