FS1 earned a 2.1 overnight rating last night for the U.S. team’s opening win over Australia in the FIFA Women’s World Cup from 7:30pm-9:30pm ET, up 133% from a 0.9 overnight for the team’s WWC opener in ’11 on ESPN against North Korea. The '11 game aired from 11:30am-1:30pm. In ‘07, the USWNT’s opener against North Korea aired at 4:45am on ESPN2, earning a 0.2 overnight. Last night's game also saw competition from Game 3 of the Lightning-Blackhawks Stanley Cup Final, which began at 8:00pm on NBCSN (Josh Carpenter, Staff Writer).
TIME TO SHINE: In California, Michael Lev writes Fox execs are "hopeful this month will produce a June boom" for FS1. More than half of the WWC matches are "slated for FS1," and the net will also carry the "bulk of the coverage" of the first two rounds of golf's U.S. Open on June 18-19. That will arguably be the "highest-profile event to air on FS1." Lev: "I remain skeptical that FS1 ever will be viewed as ESPN’s equal, but events such as the U.S. Open at least will help close that gap. The Women’s World Cup will too, but only to an extent. Despite increased interest in soccer, I don’t get the sense that Americans are all that fired up about the WWC -- aside from matches involving the U.S. team" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/9).
GOING MOBILE: SLATE's L.V. Anderson wrote after using the Fox Soccer 2 Go mobile streaming service "for a couple of days, I strongly doubt that it's worth" the $19.99 per month subscription fee. Apart from "having a poorly designed website with a not-very-helpful FAQ section, Fox Soccer 2 Go has two glaring drawbacks: It shows neither a running score nor a game clock onscreen during games." The service also "features a different commentator from those who call the matches" on TV. Meanwhile, viewers who "don't want to pay anything and ... don't mind Spanish-language commentary" can stream games on NBC Sports Live Extra. But that service has "no replay after each game has ended, and just like Fox Soccer 2 Go, NBC Deportes doesn’t show the score or game clock onscreen" (SLATE.com, 6/8).
TRUE NORTH STRONG: In Edmonton, Terry Jones cites preliminary overnight data from Numeris as showing that 1.8 million viewers "watched the Canada-China game on CTV, TSN and RDS, making it the most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup match ever in Canada." The opening game of the '11 WWC in Germany, which "featured Canada versus the host nation, drew an all-time record audience of 662,000" on CBC. Audience levels Saturday "peaked at 2.6 million viewers as captain Christine Sinclair scored on a penalty kick to provide Canada with a 1-0 win in stoppage time" (EDMONTON SUN, 6/9).
HIGHER DEFINITION: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Carolyn Giardina noted live coverage of U.S.-Australia yesterday was "broadcast live in 8K -- an ultra-sharp Ultra HD format that is 16 times the resolution of HD" -- to a location on the Fox lot, as well as sites in N.Y. and Japan. Japanese public broadcaster NHK "plans to shoot several" Yankees games in the fall, as well as next year's Super Bowl, "with its 8K 'Super Hi-Vision' format." Plans are to "start some satellite broadcasting next June with the Rio Olympics, which will be shot and broadcast to Japan in the format." The intent is to have Super Hi-Vision "ready in time" for the '20 Tokyo Olympics. The Women's World Cup coverage -- which is "an effort of NHK, FIFA TV and U.S. rights holder Fox Sports -- will be the last broadcast demonstration of an international event before the Rio Olympics." Fox Sports Head of Business Operations David Nathanson said of viewing the 8K broadcast, "It's as close to being at a game as I've seen." But Giardina noted the U.S. over-the-air broadcast standard currently "doesn't support" 4K Ultra HDTVs, and that is "not likely to change, at least in the near future" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 6/8).
