Pushed back three weeks due to the Olympics, NBC’s Premier League season opener put up solid numbers.
The Week 3 Manchester United/Hull City English Premier League match drew a 0.7 final rating and 1.2 million viewers on NBC Saturday afternoon, flat in ratings and up 15% in viewership from the network’s first match last year, Swansea City/Chelsea on opening weekend (0.7, 1.0M).
NBC did not air a live match in Week 3 of last season, instead carrying a “Match of the Day” window that earned a 0.7 and 991,000. Compared to Week 3 in 2014, when the network aired Chelsea/Everton, ratings increased a tick and viewership 21% from a 0.6 and 960,000.
Saturday’s match was easily the highest rated and most-watched of the young season, no surprise given it aired on broadcast. The previous highs were a 0.5 and 745,000 for Arsenal/Liverpool on NBCSN in Week 1.
In other Week 3 action, NBCSN scored a 0.3 and 493,000 for West Ham/Manchester City on Sunday morning — down a tick in ratings and 25% in viewership from Everton/Manchester City last year (0.4, 661K) and flat and up 18%, respectively, from Arsenal/Leicester City in 2014 (0.3, 418K).
NBCSN also scored a 388,000 for Chelsea/Burnley Saturday morning, down 14% from Leicester City/Tottenham last year (450K) and down 6% from Stoke City/Manchester City in 2014 (413K). The 0.3 rating was even with the past two years.
Earlier Saturday, Tottenham/Liverpool pulled a 0.2 and 342,000 — down a tick in ratings and 40% in viewership from Manchester United/Newcastle last year (0.3, 573K) and flat and up 23%, respectively, from Manchester United/Burnley in 2014 (0.2, 278K).
Ratings and viewership were not immediately available for West Brom/Middlesbrough in Sunday’s early morning window, which aired on CNBC.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
