The Premier League season continued its slow start opposite the Olympics.
The Week 2 Burnley/Liverpool English Premier League match scored 416,000 viewers on NBCSN last Saturday morning, down 8% from both Tottenham/Stoke City last year (450K) and Leicester City/Chelsea in 2014 (451K), but the top EPL audience of the weekend. Ratings dropped 14% from last year (0.29 to 0.25).
Airing concurrently on CNBC, Watford/Chelsea had 150,000 viewers — up 1% from West Ham/Leicester City on USA Network last year (149K). The match had a 0.1 final rating. Despite the minuscule numbers, it was the only match of the weekend to post an increase in viewership.
In other Saturday action, Stoke City/Manchester City earned a 0.2 final rating and 258,000 viewers on NBCSN earlier in the morning — flat in ratings and down 16% in viewership from Southampton/Everton last year (0.2, 307K) and flat and up 19%, respectively, from Newcastle/Aston Villa in 2014 (0.2, 216K).
Leicester City/Arsenal drew a 0.2 and 397,000 on CNBC in the afternoon, down 62% in ratings and 55% in viewership from Everton/Arsenal on the NBC broadcast network in 2014 (0.6, 850K). There was no live match in the comparable window last year.
Shifting to Sunday, Sunderland/Middlesbrough had a 0.1 (-67%) and 202,000 (-52%) on NBCSN, while West Ham/Bournemouth had a 0.2 (-60%) and 254,000 (-69%) on CNBC.
Nine of the twelve Premier League windows this season have declined from last year, with the Olympics the primary culprit. Not only did the Games provide strong competition, it also caused NBC to shake up its Premier League schedule.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily)
