Though no match for a record performance last year, the Premier League scored one of its largest audiences of the season last weekend.
The Stoke City/Chelsea English Premier League match drew a 0.8 final rating and nearly 1.1 million viewers on NBC last Saturday, down a tick in ratings and 24% in viewersihp from Arsenal/Manchester United last year (0.9, 1.4M), which was the most-watched live EPL telecast ever on U.S. television. Compared to West Ham/Everton in 2013, viewership increased 62% from 663,000.
The match ranks as the third-most watched EPL telecast on any network this season, trailing only Manchester United/Liverpool in September (1.25M) and Arsenal/Everton in October (1.15M). The four most-watched EPL telecasts this season have aired on the NBC broadcast network.
Earlier in the day, NBCSN scored 474,000 for Manchester United/West Brom — up 14% from Chelsea/West Brom last year (414K) and up 8% from Arsenal/Southampton in 2013 (440K). The concurrent West Ham/Everton match on USA Network scored 248,000, bringing the combined total in the window to 722,000.
Bournemouth/Newcastle started off the morning with 285,000 on NBCSN, down 34% from Everton/Liverpool in 2013 (432K). There was no comparable window last year.
Shifting to Sunday, Arsenal/Tottenham scored 704,000 viewers in the late morning window — up 120% from Hull City/Tottenham last year (320K), up 33% from Cardiff City/Manchester United in 2013 (531K), and the week’s top match on cable.
The preceding Aston Villa/Manchester City match had 444,000, up 3% from Manchester City/Tottenham in 2013 (431K). Last year’s comparable Crystal Palace/Liverpool match aired on CNBC; viewership was not available.
(Wknd. numbers via Sports Business Daily/Awful Announcing)
