Manchester United boosted NBCSN to a big increase in viewership Saturday morning.
Saturday’s Manchester United/Sunderland English Premier League match drew 699,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 88% from Liverpool/West Brom last year (371K) and up 71% from Liverpool/Crystal Palace in 2013 (408K). The match was the eighth of the season on NBCSN to top 600,000 viewers, compared to three at the same point last year.
The concurrent Leicester City/Arsenal match drew 262,000 viewers on USA Network, bringing the combined audience during the mid-morning window to 961,000.
Later in the day, Newcastle/Chelsea drew 534,000 viewers on NBCSN — down 13% from Aston Villa/Manchester City on the NBC broadcast network last year (614K) and up 23% from Sunderland/Manchester United on NBCSN in 2013 (435K). Wrapping up the Saturday slate, Tottenham/Manchester City had 397,000 in the early morning window; there was no comparable match last year.
Shifting to Sunday, NBCSN scored 385,000 for Watford/Crystal Palace — up 8% from West Ham/Queens Park last year (356K) but down 7% from West Brom/Arsenal in 2013 (415K). Finally, Monday’s West Brom/Everton match completed the week seven schedule with 326,000.
Premier League coverage has averaged 561,000 viewers across NBC, NBCSN and USA Network so far this season, up 13% from last year. That average does not include Monday’s match.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily [1], [2], [3]; season avg. from NBC Sports Group Press Box)
