Kentucky Derby TV rating dips

The final rating for the Kentucky Derby broadcast on NBC on Saturday was a 9.0, according to the network, down 6.3 percent from the 9.6 final rating for the broadcast last year.

The rating for the Derby dipped despite the surge in media coverage last year surrounding the post-Derby campaign of American Pharoah, who became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years when he went on to win the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

Share for the Saturday broadcast was a 21, down 8.7 percent from share of 23 last year. Share indicates the percentage of televisions in use that are tuned to a specific broadcast.

NBC said in a release that the broadcast averaged 15.5 million viewers, the fourth consecutive year in which the broadcast drew in excess of 15 million viewers. NBC also said that according to data provided by The Nielsen Company, 17.9 million viewers watched the Derby itself, equal to the peak number of viewers watching the race last year.