Golden Tempo's Kentucky Derby 2026 win sets race record for TV ratings

TL;DR

Golden Tempo's win at the Kentucky Derby 2026 achieved a record 19.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, marking an 11% increase from the previous year. The peak viewership reached 24.4 million during a specific time slot.

Key points

Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby 2026
Record average viewership of 19.6 million
11% increase from the previous year
Peak viewership of 24.4 million
NBC's largest Saturday audience since the Milan Cortina Olympics

Mentioned in this story

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Kentucky Derby 2026Golden TempoSovereignty

Golden Tempo's Kentucky Derby 2026 win sets race record for TV ratings

The Kentucky Derby continues getting bigger for NBC and Peacock.

Golden Tempo's victory in the 152nd Run for the Roses was the most watched on record, averaging 19.6 million viewers between the NBC television broadcast and the Peacock streaming service, according to a news release from the network. That was an increase of 11% over last year, when Sovereignty won Derby 151. The 19.6 million watching on TV made it NBC's largest audience for a Saturday program since the Milan Cortina Olympics earlier this year.

Saturday's viewership peaked at 24.4 million viewers between 7 and 7:15 p.m. ET. That figure set another Derby record for NBC, which has broadcast the iconic race since 2001.

This year's Derby was NBC Sports' largest streaming audience for a horse racing event on Peacock. It had an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 1.3 million viewers. That's a 36% rise over 2025 (959,000) and almost double 2024 (714,000).