As the oldest continuously-held major sporting event in the United States, the Kentucky Derby is a time-honored tradition that spans back 150 years. NBCUniversal, which has televised the annual “Run for the Roses” since 2001 through its NBC Sports division, has extended its media rights agreement with Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) through 2032. The deal will allow NBCUniversal to continue televising the Kentucky Derby both on NBC and Peacock for the next eight years.
In turn, NBCUniversal will become the first media company to present the Kentucky Derby for three decades, bringing it up to its 32nd edition of the prestigious horse racing event. CBS was the broadcast home of the Kentucky Derby from 1952 to 1974, while ABC presented the race for the ensuing 25 years until the turn of the century.
“As we celebrate the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is proud to extend the relationship with NBC Sports,” Bill Carstanjen, chief executive officer of Churchill Downs Incorporated, said in a statement. “As our media partner for the last 23 years, NBC has artfully captured the most exciting two minutes in sports and the spectacle of the senses that surrounds it.”
The extension includes multiplatform rights to broadcast the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks races, along with additional programming surrounding the competitions. Content will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCUniversal-owned platforms. NBC will also broadcast the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, May 18 at 4:30 p.m. EST.
“Telling the rich stories surrounding the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May is part of the fabric of NBC Sports, and we are thrilled to continue that tradition with Churchill Downs,” Rick Cordella, president of NBC Sports, said in a statement. “We look forward to surrounding the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby with wall-to-wall coverage and extensive promotion on the platforms of NBCUniversal.”
The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, which took place this past Saturday, averaged a total audience delivery of 16.7 million viewers according to data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics, making it the largest audience for the event since 1989. Compared to last year’s race viewership is up by 13% and will rank as the most-watched program on NBC since the NFL Divisional Playoffs in January. NBC Sports has averaged more than 15 million viewers across all of its platforms for 11 of the last 15 Kentucky Derby races.
Viewership peaked at 20.1 million viewers from 7 to 7:15 p.m. EST as Mystik Dan won the contest in a three-horse photo finish, something that had not happened since 1947. The race attained a 7.5 rating on NBC-TV from 6:31 to 7:24 p.m. EST with a 27 share, the latter of which is the highest ever recorded for an NBC Sports presentation of the Kentucky Derby. Moreover, the race on Peacock garnered an average minute audience of 714,000 viewers, which represents an approximate 92.5% year-over-year increase and represents the most-streamed Kentucky Derby of all time.
