With weekend matches overshadowed by FA Cup play, the Manchester Derby topped last week’s EPL charts despite a weekday afternoon time slot.
Thursday’s Manchester City-Manchester United English Premier League match delivered 425,000 viewers on NBCSN, the largest weekday audience of the season, excluding holidays. It was also the most-watched EPL match of the week. There was no comparable telecast in week 34 of last season.
Despite the highs, the 0-0 draw was the least-watched Manchester Derby since at least 2012. The sides’ previous weekday meeting, a Tuesday afternoon match in 2014, had 547,000 on NBCSN.
In other weekday action, Chelsea-Southampton had 211,000 on Tuesday and Crystal Palace-Tottenham 192,000 on Wednesday.
Last weekend, NBCSN earned 395,000 for Liverpool-Crystal Palace (-23%) and 334,000 for Burnley-Manchester United (-24%) last Sunday and 342,000 for West Ham-Everton (-20%) last Saturday. CNBC scored 47,000 for Chelsea-Stoke City (-76%).
None of the EPL telecasts could match last Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal between Chelsea and Tottenham, which pulled a 0.5 final rating and 799,000 viewers on the FOX broadcast network. Another FA Cup match, Arsenal-Manchester City on Fox Sports 1 Sunday morning, had 374,000.
