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TV Ratings Down Slightly for WSOP Main Event

Television ratings for the World Series of Poker main event final table on ESPN were down slightly in the second year of the “November Nine.”

Last year, the WSOP and ESPN decided to delay the final table of the main event several months for television purposes — mostly to get better ratings and generate more buzz about the final table, the richest in poker. And it worked — in 2008, ratings were up 50% over 2007.

But the ratings leveled off this year, even with superstar Phil Ivey at the final table of the 2009 event. The two-and a-half hour televised broadcast (half an our longer than scheduled) had 2.1 million viewers on Tuesday night for a 1.8 rating as 21-year-old Joe Cada won. That was down from the 1.9 rating last year. A ratings point equals 1% of all television viewers at the time of the broadcast.

A statement from ESPN painted a rosy picture for the overall coverage of the WSOP, leading up to the nearly live finale:

ESPN’s 15-week schedule of World Series of Poker coverage in 2009 included 31 telecasts averaging a 1.0 rating, even with last year. However, averages for households (1,024,901) and viewership (1,228,008) increased nine and seven percent, respectively, from 2008 and the important Male 25-54 demographic saw a 13 percent jump from 2008.

The overrun of the broadcast raised the ire of poker fans, or at least those who used Tivo or DVR to watch the broadcast later. For those who only taped the two-hour scheduled block, they missed heads-up play between Cada and Darvin Moon. Replays are scheduled to be aired for those who missed the final half hour.

Even with stagnant numbers, it is clear that the delayed final table is probably here to stay after its second year, given its success vs. pre-2008 numbers. Earlier this year, ESPN inked a deal with the WSOP to broadcast the tournament series through 2018.

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