The last two Premier League champions delivered for NBCSN over the weekend.
Sunday’s Manchester City/Chelsea Premier League match drew 818,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 42% from Sunderland/Manchester United last year (576K) and up 78% from Tottenham/Swansea City in 2013 (459K). The match earned the 11th-largest Premier League audience ever on U.S. cable television, and the largest audience for a match on cable in the month of August.
Continuing a trend from the opening weekend, the match was just one of several to generate double-digit gains. Arsenal/Crystal Palace earned 417,000 viewers earlier in the morning, up 180% from Tottenham/Queens Park on CNBC last year (149K). There was no comparable match in 2013.
On Saturday, Everton/Southampton drew 307,000 in the early morning window — up 42% from Newcastle/Aston Villa last year (216K) and up 15% from Fulham/Arsenal in 2013 (266K).
The mid-morning window drew a combined 599,000 on NBCSN and USA Network, with the former scoring 450,000 for Stoke City/Tottenham and the latter earning 149,000 for Leicester City/West Ham. It topped the comparable window last year, which featured Leicester City/Chelsea on NBCSN alone (451K).
Rounding out the week two slate, Friday’s Manchester United/Aston Villa match drew 465,000 viewers on NBCSN, the largest weekday Premier League audience since January 1. Monday’s Bournemouth/Liverpool match was the only dud of the week, drawing 384,000 — down 18% from Liverpool/Manchester City last year (469K) and down 28% from Manchester United/Chelsea in 2013 (536K).
(Wknd. numbers from ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], Sports TV Ratings, NBC Sports)
