WORLD TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS OREGON22 DELIVERS OPENING WEEKEND VIEWERSHIP MILESTONES ACROSS NBCUNIVERSAL
Friday-Sunday Coverage Reaches 11.4 Million Total Viewers, Surpassing All Previous World Championships Presented by NBC Sports
Sunday Afternoon's Coverage on NBC (2.2 Million Viewers) Delivers Network's Most-Watched Track & Field Program in 18 Years, Excluding Olympics and U.S. Team Trials
Total Weekend Coverage on NBC Averages Nearly 2 Million Viewers; Best for World Championships in 15 Years
All Four Track & Field Programs on NBC Rank Among Top 10 Most-Watched Sports Programs of the Weekend
STAMFORD, Conn., July 20, 2022 - NBC Sports' coverage of the World Track & Field Championships from Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, delivered significant viewership milestones during the meet's opening weekend (July 15-17), including reaching 11.4 million total viewers (NBC/USA Network/CNBC) which surpasses its complete coverage of all previous World Championships. This is the first time the outdoor World Championships are being held in the United States and NBCUniversal is dedicating record coverage of the event across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms, including the first-ever live primetime coverage on the NBC broadcast network.
Sunday afternoon's (2:12-4:34 p.m. ET) coverage of the championships on NBC averaged 2.235 million TV-only viewers, making it the most-watched Track & Field event on the network in 18 years, excluding the Olympics and U.S. Team Trials, and up 192% vs. the network's average viewership of the last World Championships in 2019. It was also the fifth-most watched sports program of the weekend.
Coverage on NBC on Saturday and Sunday (7.5 hours; two afternoon windows; two primetime windows) averaged 1.98 million TV-only viewers, ranking as the network's most-watched World Championships since 2007 (2.08 million for one telecast on NBC). All four NBC track & field programs were in the Top 10 among the most-watched sports events of the weekend.
From Friday-Sunday, NBC Sports' track & field programming averaged 939,000 TV-only viewers across NBC, USA Network and CNBC. Viewership across those platforms is up triple digits vs. nearly all comparable 2019 averages.
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NBC Sports is presenting 43 hours of television programming, including four nights of live primetime weekend coverage (July 16-17, July 23-24) on the NBC broadcast network, plus extensive streaming coverage throughout the 10-day championship meet, which concludes on Sunday, July 24.
Coverage continues tonight on Peacock and USA Network at 7:30 p.m. ET and is highlighted by the semifinals of the women's 400m hurdles, where reigning Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin and defending world champion Dalilah Muhammad look to advance to the final on Friday, as well as the women's steeplechase final that is expected to include three-time Olympian and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn and Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs.
Other prominent events tonight include the women's discus final, where Tokyo Olympic champion Valarie Allman looks to win her first world title as well as the first round of the men's 800m featuring defending world champion Donavan Brazier and Tokyo Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 20
Date Platform Time* Featured Events/Athletes
Wed., July 20 Peacock, USA Network 7:30-11 p.m. ET W 400m Hurdles (SF) - Sydney McLaughlin, Dalilah Muhammad
W Steeplechase (F) - Emma Coburn, Courtney Frerichs
W Discus (F) - Valarie Allman**
W 5000m (Heats) - Elise Cranny, Sifan Hassan
M 800m (Heats) - Donavan Brazier, Emmanuel Korir
M 400m (SF) - Michael Norman
W 400m (SF) - Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Lynna Irby
* Coverage on Peacock will start shortly before and conclude shortly following the listed times
** Peacock will have all field finals in full
Live coverage on Thursday starts at 8 p.m. ET on Peacock and USA Network and is highlighted by the finals for both the men's and women's 200m. On the men's side, Noah Lyles looks to defend his world championship against 18-year-old sensation Erriyon Knighton, the fourth-fastest 200m runner in history. At the U.S. Championships, Lyles and Knighton provided an epic duel with Lyles edging out his younger competitor by .02 seconds.
NBC Sports' Ato Boldon following the men's 200m semi-finals: "The 21st of July, 10:50 p.m. ET on USA Network -- you do not want to miss this final between Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles and the rest of this field."
For the women, five-time Olympic medalist Shericka Jackson of Jamaica is the favorite in the 200m. She's joined by two teammates in the final: 10-time world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah. They'll look to continue Jamaica's dominance in the event against defending world champion Dina Asher-Smith (Great Britain) and 2022 NCAA champion Abby Steiner (USA).
Other prominent events on Thursday include the first round of the women's 800m, where Tokyo Olympic champion and American record holder Athing Mu makes her World Championship debut alongside Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Raevyn Rogers and 2022 indoor world champion Ajee Wilson. Thursday also includes the first round of the men's 5000m featuring Tokyo Olympic champion and world record holder Joshua Cheptegei (Uganda) and 2022 U.S. champion Grant Fisher.
More details about this weekend's schedule will be provided tomorrow.
THURSDAY, JULY 21
Date Platform Time* Featured Events/Athletes
Thurs., July 21 Peacock, USA Network 8-11 p.m. M 200m (F) - Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton
W 200m (F) - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Abby Steiner
W 800m (Heats) - Athing Mu, Ajee Wilson, Raevyn Rogers
M 5000m (Heats) - Grant Fisher, Joshua Cheptegei
M 800m (SF) - Donavan Brazier, Emmanuel Korir
* Coverage on Peacock will start shortly before and conclude shortly following the listed times
--NBC SPORTS--
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