With no Derby winner, Preakness viewership drops again

With the Triple Crown out of reach, this year's Preakness Stakes TV audience declined to an average of 4.6 million viewers.

Other than the pandemic year of 2020, that's the lowest figure since the 1995 Preakness drew 4.4 million viewers on ABC, according to Sports Business Journal.

The NBC audience averaged 5.9 million during quarter-hour beginning at 7 p.m. EDT, when the Preakness was won, according to estimates from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

The connections of Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty opted to skip the Preakness and point instead to the Belmont Stakes three weeks later. Journalism, runner-up in the Derby, won the Preakness in a thriller. Journalism shipped to Saratoga, but his connections have not confirmed whether he will run in the Belmont. 

Sports Media Watch reported that despite the decline in viewership, the Preakness was the most-watched sporting event on a day that included the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament, the New York Mets and Yankees playing in the subway series and Caitlin Clark appearing in the opening game of the WNBA season.