Overview
- Preliminary figures NBC released Sunday show the race segment averaged 19.6 million viewers and peaked at 24.4 million from 7:00 to 7:15 p.m. ET, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.
- Golden Tempo won Saturday’s 152nd Derby by a neck over Renegade after a late rally under jockey Jose Ortiz, as trainer Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to win the race.
- Peacock’s streaming audience averaged 1.3 million viewers, a Derby record and up from 959,000 in 2025, based on Adobe Analytics.
- NBC said Friday night’s Kentucky Oaks, moved to network primetime, averaged 2.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.
- Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel method and larger samples that count viewing in bars and watch parties inflate comparisons to older Derbies, and NBC noted these tallies are preliminary pending final certification.