A shift from primetime to daytime resulted in a double-digit drop, but the USWNT Women’s World Cup semifinal still delivered in the overnight ratings.
Tuesday’s United States-England FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal earned a 5.5 overnight rating on FOX, down 10% from the U.S.-Germany semifinal in 2015, which aired in primetime (6.1), but up 112% from the U.S.-France semifinal in 2011, which aired in an earlier timeslot on ESPN (2.6).
The 5.5 is the highest of the Women’s World Cup, surpassing a 4.9 for the USWNT-France quarterfinal on Friday afternoon. It is also the fifth-highest on record for a Women’s World Cup match, behind the 2015 semifinal and the 1999, 2011 and 2015 final.
Three of the six USWNT matches in this year’s tournament have declined in the metered markets,* no surprise given the shift in time zones from U.S.-friendly Canada in 2015 to France this year. Every U.S. match has taken place during the afternoon, with five of the six airing during the workday. By comparison, every match in 2015 aired in primetime.
Keep in mind that ratings are the percentage of homes watching a program out of the total number of television homes. Those numbers will be inevitably lower when fewer homes are watching television (as is the case during the morning).
Looking at the share, which is the percentage of homes watching a program out of the number of televisions in use, Tuesday’s match increased 45 percent over 2015 (from an 11 to a 16).
Even with the declines for U.S. matches, the Women’s World Cup is now averaging a 1.1 rating in the metered markets — up a tick from 2015 (1.0) and up 57% from 2011 on ESPN/ESPN2 (0.7). The 2011 average includes both semifinals.
Austin, Tex., led all markets for Tuesday’s match with an 8.3 rating. Kansas City was second at an 8.1 and Atlanta third at a 7.7. San Diego and Ft. Myers, Fla., rounded out the top five at a 7.6.
* The opening match against Thailand posted an increase in the metered markets, but ended up declining in the final nationals.
[Numbers from Fox Sports]
