Week thirteen of the Premier League season delivered solid numbers on cable.
Last Sunday’s Tottenham/West Ham English Premier League match earned 472,000 viewers on NBCSN, up 20% from Tottenham/Everton last year (394K) but down 7% from Chelsea/Southampton in 2013 (507K). It was the top EPL telecast of the week on cable, marking the second time in three weeks that the top match had fewer than 500,000.
Ranking second for the week was Chelsea/Norwich City on NBCSN the previous morning, which had 375,000 — down 42% from Manchester United/Hull City last year (642K) and down 17% from Cardiff City/Arsenal in 2013 (450K). Adding in the concurrent West Brom/Arsenal match on USA Network (315K), the combined audience of 690,000 topped both last year and 2013.
Watford/Manchester United scored 351,000 in the early Saturday window, up 68% from West Brom/Arsenal last year (209K). There was no comparable window in 2013.
Rounding out the cable slate, Monday’s Crystal Palace/Sunderland match just 92,000 on NBCSN — easily a season-low. The previous mark was 140,000 for Crystal Palace/Aston Villa on USA Network in week three.
UPDATE 12/1: Over on the NBC broadcast network, Manchester United/Liverpool had a 0.7 final rating and 926,000 viewers — up 40% in ratings and 16% in viewership from Sunderland/Chelsea last year (0.5, 802K) and up 75% and 68%, respectively, from West Brom/Newcastle in 2013 (0.4, 553K).
(Wknd. numbers via Awful Announcing, Sports TV Ratings, Nielsen)
