Television ratings down for Justify's Belmont Stakes win

The overnight rating for the Belmont Stakes broadcast on NBC on Saturday peaked at an 8.1 with a 19 share, a strong number for any sports broadcast but well below the overnight figures posted for the past two Triple Crown bids in 2015 and 2014.

NBC Sports, which provided the figures Sunday morning, stressed that the rating numbers likely will qualify the broadcast as the highest-ranked television broadcast of the weekend, no mean feat in today’s highly fractured market. However, the numbers are well below the 12.3 overnight rating and 27 share garnered by American Pharoah’s successful Triple Crown run in 2015, figures that were actually a decline from the ratings figures posted for California Chrome’s unsuccessful Triple Crown attempt in 2014.

This year’s rating peaked at a 9.9 with a 23 share during the actual running of the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Justify, the winner of the race, became the second undefeated horse to win the Triple Crown.

Justify was winning only his sixth start when he took the Triple Crown, and he made his debut as a 3-year-old. In contrast, both California Chrome and American Pharoah raced at 2. American Pharoah was the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, and his successful run may have sapped enthusiasm to witness the feat.

Two of the top markets for the Belmont broadcast were other Triple Crown locations, with Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby, ranking highest at a 19.0 rating and 36 share and Baltimore, home of the Preakness, ranking third with a 12.7 rating and 30 share. New York did not rank among the top 10 markets for the race.

Rating is a numerical measure of the number of people watching a broadcast. Share measures the percentage of televisions in use at the time that are tuned into a broadcast.

The overnight NBC numbers do not include digital streams, which are increasingly becoming part of the mainstream viewing experience.