For the second straight day, over twelve million viewers watched World Cup soccer on a weekday afternoon.
The Argentina/Netherlands FIFA World Cup semifinal earned a combined 12.2 million viewers on ESPN and Univision Wednesday afternoon, just shy of the audience of Germany/Brazil the previous day (12.4M). The match ranks as the seventh-most watched of the World Cup.
ESPN alone earned a 4.3 U.S. rating and 6.8 million viewers for the match, marking the highest rated and most-viewed World Cup semifinal ever on a single U.S. network. The previous highs were set by Germany/Brazil (4.2, 6.6M). The match also ranks as the highest rated and most-viewed World Cup match ever on ESPN or ESPN2 that did not involve the United States.
Univision drew 5.4 million viewers for its coverage, its second-largest audience ever for a World Cup semi. Only Germany/Brazil did better (5.8M).
Through the semifinals, ESPN/ABC has averaged a 2.7 U.S. rating and 4.3 million viewers for coverage of the 2014 World Cup — up 42% in ratings and 43% in viewership from 2010 (1.9, 3.0M), and up 93% and 108%, respectively, from 2006 (1.4, 2.1M). Figures were not available for Univision’s coverage, but the network’s viewership has increased 38% over 2010.
(Wed. numbers from ESPN, Univision)
