NBC’s great weekend on the track at Churchill Downs was also felt on the airwaves, as the network drew 19.6 million viewers for the Kentucky Derby, marking the race’s best audience since 1983 on ABC (before the people meter era). It’s easily NBC’s best audience yet for the race, dating back to when it acquired rights in 2001, and also up 11% from last year’s event, which did not have the benefit of Big Data measurement. Nielsen records dating back to 1975 show this to be the eighth-best Derby TV audience since that time.
Saturday’s race peaked at 24.4 million viewers from 7-7:15pm ET, as Golden Tempo edged out Renegade, and also includes the Winner’s Circle presentation with trainer Cherie DeVaux, who became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner in the event’s 152-year history. The 24.4 million who watched during those final moments of the telecast marked NBC’s best peak audience yet for a Derby telecast.
Peacock itself claims it drew an average minute audience of 1.3 million viewers, which is its best yet for a horse racing event.
Meanwhile, NBC drew 2.4 million viewers for the debut of the Kentucky Oaks in primetime on Friday. The race, which also dates back to 1875 like the Derby, had always been run in the afternoon. The Oaks’ move to primetime was 74% better than the 1.38 million viewers that “Grosse Pointe Garden Society” drew in the same 8-9pm ET Friday window in 2025. That average of 2.4 million viewers is essentially what Fox drew for its Friday night college football games on the broadcast network this past season.
