Kentucky Derby
Nielsen average audience: 15,500,000 viewers (final), per Sports Media Watch.
- Aired
- 2016-05-07 Saturday
- Networks
- NBC
15,500,000
Nielsen avg audience · via press
single source · final
figures last changed 2016-05-10
Published figures
JSONNielsen1 figure
15,500,000
The race portion of the 2016 Kentucky Derby delivered a 9.0 final rating and 15.5 million viewers on NBC Saturday evening …Sports Media Watch, verbatim
1 press attribution · no provider-published figure · single source
press-attributed = reported by press citing the provider
press-attributed = reported by press citing the provider
Prior-season windows
2015-05-02 · NBC · Nielsen, final · Sports Media Watch
16,000,000
2015-05-16 · NBC · Nielsen, final · Sports Media Watch
8,900,000
2 windows sit the same distance from 52 weeks earlier; the site does not pick one, so no percent is computed.
Site-computed: same league, same weekday, both on NBC, nearest to 52 weeks earlier; Nielsen average, final or revised.
Site-computed: same league, same weekday, both on NBC, nearest to 52 weeks earlier; Nielsen average, final or revised.
Kentucky Derby by year
2009–2026Record
18.0M 2026
This telecast
#6 of 8 Before Out-of-Home
Years on record
15 2009–2026
Nielsen average audience · one telecast per year
- Before Out-of-Homebefore Sept 2020
- Panel + Out-of-HomeSept 2020 – Sept 2025
- Big Data + Panelsince Sept 2025
15 eligible telecasts · computed 2026-10-30 22:01 UTC
| Year | Telecast | Avg audience |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Kentucky Derby | 16,300,000 |
| 2010 | Kentucky Derby | 16,500,000 |
| 2011 | Kentucky Derby | 14,540,000 |
| 2012 | Kentucky Derby | 14,800,000 |
| 2013 | Kentucky Derby | 16,200,000 |
| 2015 | Kentucky Derby | 16,000,000 |
| 2016 | Kentucky Derby | 15,500,000 |
| 2019 | Kentucky Derby | 16,340,000 |
| 2020 | Kentucky Derby | 9,260,000 |
| 2021 | Kentucky Derby | 14,370,000 |
| 2022 | Kentucky Derby | 15,790,000 |
| 2023 | Kentucky Derby | 14,400,000 |
| 2024 | Kentucky Derby | 15,970,000 |
| 2025 | Kentucky Derby | 17,700,000 |
| 2026 | Kentucky Derby | 18,030,000 |