NBC, NBCSN and USA Network combined to average 514,000 viewers for the '15-16 EPL season, marking a new U.S. audience record for the league. That figure is up 7% from last season's record figure of 479,000 viewers, and up from 438,000 during NBC Sports Group's debut season in '13-14. ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer averaged 220,000 viewers during the '12-13 season. This was the first season that USA was part of NBC Sports' coverage, with the cable net airing 39 EPL matches. The '15-16 season also saw four of the 10 most-viewed EPL matches yet on U.S. TV. Unique viewership of EPL matches on NBC Sports Live Extra was up 26% from last season. DC once again topped all local markets for EPL games across NBC's networks, followed by Hartford-New Haven and West Palm Beach.
SÚPER DUPER CLÁSICO: Univision last Sunday drew 2.69 million viewers for the second leg of Liga MX quarterfinals featuring Chivas-Club América (simulcast on Univision Deportes), marking the best audience for any Liga MX match since the '14 Apertura (fall season) finale. That audience also is bigger than any NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs game this season to date. The first leg of Chivas-Club América on Thursday night on Univision Deportes averaged 1.42 million viewers.
NOTES: FS1 last Sunday drew 1.37 million viewers for the NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals from Atlanta, marking the NHRA's most-viewed race since at least '02....ESPN on Saturday night averaged 844,000 viewers for the premiere of its latest "30 for 30" -- "Believeland." That figure is just below what ESPN averaged for "This Is What They Want" about former tennis player Jimmy Connors in October '13 (866,000 viewers), and just above what "The Dotted Line" drew in October '11 (810,000 viewers)....ESPN averaged 505,000 viewers on Saturday for Lynx-Mercury, marking the cable net's best WNBA regular-season telecast since '01.
The chart below lists audience figures for select recent sports telecasts.
| TELECAST |
DATE
|
NET
|
TIME (ET)
|
RAT.
|
VIEWERS
(000)
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Warriors-Trail Blazers: Game 5 |
5/11
|
TNT
|
10:43pm-1:42am
|
4.0
|
6,251
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Warriors-Trail Blazers: Game 4 |
5/9
|
TNT
|
10:55pm-1:45am
|
3.9
|
6,158
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Raptors-Heat: Game 7 |
5/15
|
ABC
|
3:32-6:30pm
|
3.6
|
5,752
|
PGA Tour: Players Championship:
Final Round |
5/15
|
NBC
|
2:00-7:00pm
|
2.8
|
5,232
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Thunder-Spurs: Game 6 |
5/12
|
ESPN
|
8:27-10:59pm
|
3.3
|
5,229
|
NBA Western Conference Semifinals:
Thunder-Spurs: Game 5 |
5/10
|
TNT
|
8:00-10:39pm
|
3.0
|
4,607
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Raptors-Heat: Game 4 |
5/9
|
TNT
|
8:00-10:55pm
|
2.6
|
4,007
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Raptors-Heat: Game 5 |
5/11
|
TNT
|
8:00-10:53pm
|
2.6
|
4,002
|
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
AAA 400 (Dover) |
5/15
|
FS1
|
1:00-5:16pm
|
2.5
|
3,985
|
NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals:
Raptors-Heat: Game 6 |
5/13
|
ESPN
|
8:04-10:38pm
|
2.4
|
3,735
|
PGA Tour: Players Championship:
Third Round |
5/14
|
NBC
|
2:00-7:45pm
|
2.2
|
3,192
|
| Liga MX: Club América-Chivas |
5/15
|
Univision
|
6:30-9:00pm
|
1.3
|
2,692
|
NHL Eastern Conference Finals:
Lightning-Penguins: Game 1 |
5/13
|
NBCSN
|
8:04-10:55pm
|
n/a
|
1,718
|
| "NBA Countdown" |
5/15
|
ABC
|
3:00-3:32pm
|
1.1
|
1,677
|
| MLB: Cardinals-Dodgers |
5/15
|
ESPN
|
8:00-11:10pm
|
n/a
|
1,671
|
NASCAR Xfinity Series:
Ollie's Bargain Outlet 200 (Dover) |
5/14
|
Fox
|
2:15-4:45pm
|
1.1
|
1,600
|
| Liga MX: Monterrey-Tigres UANL |
5/14
|
Univision
|
7:30-10:00pm
|
0.7
|
1,283
|
| Liga MX: Leon-Monarcas Morelia |
5/14
|
Telemundo
|
10:04pm-12:08am
|
0.5
|
917
|
Verizon IndyCar Series:
Angie's List Grand Prix of Indy |
5/14
|
ABC
|
3:30-6:00pm
|
0.7
|
905
|
| PBR: Last Cowboy Standing |
5/14
|
CBS
|
4:00-6:00pm
|
0.6
|
860
|
| EPL: Swansea City-Manchester City |
5/15
|
NBC
|
10:00am-12:15pm
|
0.6
|
797
|
| Invictus Games |
5/15
|
ABC
|
2:00-3:00pm
|
0.5
|
727
|
| Liga MX: Monarcas Morelia-Leon |
5/11
|
Azteca
|
9:48pm-12:00am
|
0.3
|
587
|
| "Bundesliga Match Day" |
5/14
|
Fox
|
9:00-9:30am
|
0.4
|
578
|
| Liga MX: Santos Laguna-Pachuca |
5/12
|
Azteca
|
7:46-10:08pm
|
0.3
|
540
|
| "World of X Games: Real Street" |
5/14
|
ABC
|
2:30-3:30pm
|
0.4
|
532
|
| "EPL Goal Zone" |
5/15
|
NBC
|
12:15-2:00pm
|
0.4
|
512
|
| Bundesliga: Bayern Munich-Hannover |
5/14
|
Fox
|
9:30-11:30am
|
0.3
|
391
|
