The Premier League delivered its top cable audience of the season, though it may have had a broadcast network assist.
Last Sunday’s Manchester United/Liverpool English Premier League match had a 0.5 final rating and 881,000 viewers on NBCSN, up a tick in ratings and 10% in viewership from Manchester United/Southampton in 2015 (0.4, 801K). There was no comparable window in week 21 of last season, which consisted of weekday matches.
It was unclear whether Sunday’s figures included coverage on the NBC broadcast network, which simulcast the final hour of play to fill the programming vacancy left by its rescheduled NFL playoff game. Keeping that caveat in mind, the 1-1 draw was the most-watched EPL match on cable this season — and the eighth-most watched all-time.
In other action, Leicester City/Chelsea had a 0.6 and 1.0 million last Saturday afternoon — flat in ratings and up 24% in viewership from Chelsea Palace/Tottenham in 2015 (0.6, 815K). It was NBC’s third straight match to top the one million mark and the fourth-most watched on any network this season.
Rounding out last weekend’s slate, Everton/Manchester City had a 0.3 and 436,000 in the early Sunday window — up a tick in ratings and 3% in viewership from Arsenal/Stoke City in ’15 (0.2, 425K). In the Saturday morning windows, Swansea/Arsenal had a 0.3 (flat) and 440,000 (-19%) and Tottenham/West Brom a 0.2 (flat) and 228,000 (-31%). CNBC’s West Ham/Crystal Palace match plumbed the depths with 45,000.
(Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 1/18, with additional info from Sports TV Ratings 1/18)
