Mexico-Germany on Telemundo outperformed all local TV in the Miami area during the time slotGETTY IMAGES
The Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market through Tuesday "ranked No. 1 among all U.S. markets in viewership" on Spanish-language Telemundo for FIFA World Cup matches and "No. 2 overall for the Fox English-language coverage," according to Michelle Kaufman of the MIAMI HERALD. The 6.2 Nielsen rating on Miami’s WSCV-Telemundo was "well ahead" of second-place market L.A. (3.4). The June 17 Mexico-Germany match "drew a 10.2 rating on Telemundo in the Miami area, outperforming all other local TV during that time slot." Miami-Ft. Lauderdale "ranks second overall" on Fox and FS1 behind DC, with a "2.5 combined rating through Tuesday night and ranked top 5 among all U.S. markets for 22 matches so far." South Florida had the nation’s "highest viewership numbers" on Fox/FS1 for four matches (MIAMIHERALD.com, 6/27).
LIVE IS BUT A STREAM: Fox Sports said that it had "racked up 906 million total minutes of streaming content, including matches, shoulder programming and VOD" through Day 10 of the World Cup. MULTICHANNEL NEWS' Kent Gibbons noted Saturday's Germany-Sweden match was the "top-performing streaming match of the day, with an average minute audience of 239,000 and 689,000 unique streamers." Meanwhile, Saturday was the "second-best day of the tournament for Snap, with 10.4 million Publisher Story views." Fox said that it had "tallied 90.5 million total story views through Day 10" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 6/26).
STAYING OUT TOO LATE: FORBES' Brian Goff wrote Fox' World Cup coverage "might generously be described as uneven." The pregame shows "have been alright," but "maybe the most amateurish element of the coverage" has been "World Cup Tonight," the nightly highlight show on FS1. Jumpy and awkward "would be relatively kind ways of describing" the show. Argentine Fernando Fiore is a "likable and colorful character, who might add spice as a contributor to the show or in some other role, but as the host, he is ill-suited." The show "lacks flow and chemistry" and at times has "been so bad that it is comical" (FORBES.com, 6/27).
IN THE CROWD: The GLOBE & MAIL's John Doyle writes there is "something ominous and cringe-inducing going on" during the World Cup coverage: the "return of what some call the 'babe cam' -- the habit of TV cameras finding and lingering long on comely young women in the stadium seats." It is "as if there’s a directive to find and ogle women with great hair, big smiles, low-cut tops or short-shorts." It is "impossible to determine if the individuals wielding the cameras are local, as in local Russian staff hired for the tournament, or from an international pool of staff" used by Host Broadcast Services, which is contracted by FIFA to produce each game (GLOBE & MAIL, 6/28).
