This year’s Premier League season is on pace to set a cable record.
Premier League matches have averaged 483,000 on NBCSN and USA Network so far this season, up 16% from last year on NBCSN and CNBC, and on pace to rank as the highest average ever for the EPL on U.S. cable television. Newcomer USA is largely responsible for the increase, as NBCSN alone has averaged 439,000 — up only 3%.
Liverpool/West Brom was last weekend’s top draw on cable, scoring 520,000 on NBCSN Sunday morning — up 18% from Swansea/Tottenham last year (441K) and up less than 1% from Tottenham/Liverpool in 2013 (518K). Aston Villa/Arsenal drew 357,000 earlier in the day, down 48% from Manchester United/Liverpool last year (681K) but up 1% from Aston Villa/Manchester United in 2013 (352K).
Shifting to Saturday, NBCSN scored 379,000 for Manchester City/Swansea City in the mid-morning window — off 12% from Chelsea/Hull City last year (431K) and down 18% from Chelsea/Crystal Palace in 2013 (465K). The concurrent Crystal Palace/Southampton match had 195,000 on USA Network, bringing the combined total in the window to 574,000.
Norwich City/Everton started the morning with 202,000, down 57% from Manchester City/Arsenal in 2013 (475K). There was no comparable match last year. Rounding out the cable slate, Leicester City/Chelsea drew 348,000 on Monday afternoon — up 46% from last year’s Everton/Queens Park match (238K).
As usual, the top match of the week aired on broadcast. NBC drew a 0.6 final rating and 896,000 viewers for Bournemouth/Manchester United last Saturday, up 100% in ratings and 75% in viewership from Newcastle/Arsenal last year (0.3, 512K) and up 200% and 286%, respectively, from Hull City/Stoke City in 2013 (0.2, 232K). Those increases come with a major caveat — the comparable matches both last year and in 2013 aired on NBCSN.
(Season avg. from NBC Sports Group Press Box; wknd. numbers via Awful Announcing, ShowBuzz Daily, Sports Business Daily)
