Written By Bill Gorman

May 1st, 2010

The 2009 Kentucky Derby viewership was up 15% from the 2008 race and has shown a general upward trend since NBC took over the race in 2001. Although a significant portion of the initial 2001 to 2002 jump can be attributed to the fact that NBC split the race and pre-race into two separate shows for ratings purposes (boosting the race only show ratings), and moved the post-time to 6:10 Eastern time from 5:30.

And they're off!

Complete Kentucky Derby TV Ratings, 1975-2009:

Year	Viewers (million)	HH rating	HH Share	Network	Winner
1975	26.74	18.9	54	ABC	Foolish Pleasure
1976	25.84	17.5	49	ABC	Bold Forbes
1977	20.70	14.9	48	ABC	Seattle Slew**
1978	22.40	17.0	48	ABC	Affirmed**
1979	20.82	16.0	49	ABC	Spectacular Bid
1980	19.27	15.4	48	ABC	Genuine Risk
1981	23.47	16.0	46	ABC	Pleasant Colony
1982	20.26	14.1	40	ABC	Gato Del Sol
1983	19.90	14.5	37	ABC	Sunny's Halo
1984	16.82	12.9	36	ABC	Swale
1985	12.06	10.9	32	ABC	Spend a Buck
1986	16.95	13.6	37	ABC	Ferdinand
1987	14.39	11.6	31	ABC	Alysheba
1988		9.0	28	ABC	Winning Colors
1989		11.6	31	ABC	Sunday Silence
1990		10.1	27	ABC	Unbridled
1991	11.68	8.3	24	ABC	Strike The Gold
1992	11.61	8.9	26	ABC	Lil E. Tee
1993	9.64	7.3	22	ABC	Sea Hero
1994	10.58	7.5	21	ABC	Go For Gin
1995	8.13	6.0	17	ABC	Thunder Gulch
1996	9.77	7.4	21	ABC	Grindstone
1997	10.07	7.1	19	ABC	Silver Charm
1998	8.26	6.1	18	ABC	Real Quiet
1999	8.70	6.3	19	ABC	Charismatic
2000	7.93	5.8	17	ABC	Fusiachi Pegasus
2001	13.48	9.3	24	NBC	Monarchos
2002	12.82	8.3	21	NBC	War Emblem
2003	11.76	7.6	20	NBC	Funny Cide
2004	14.57	9.3	22	NBC	Smarty Jones
2005	13.58	9.0	22	NBC	Giacomo
2006	12.89	8.4	20	NBC	Barbaro
2007	13.75	8.8	21	NBC	Street Sense
2008	14.20	8.8	21	NBC	Big Brown
2009	16.3	9.8	23	NBC	Mine That Bird