Fox Sports is averaging a 1.1 overnight for the World Cup through the first semifinalGETTY IMAGES
Fox on Tuesday afternoon drew a 5.5 overnight rating for the USWNT's win over England in the semifinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. That figure is down 10% from a 6.1 four years ago for U.S.-Germany in the WWC semifinal, which aired in primetime on Fox. Eight years ago, in a similar afternoon time slot, ESPN drew a 2.6 overnight for U.S.-France in the semifinal (+112%). Austin led all markets Tuesday with an 8.3 local rating, followed by K.C. (8.1) and Atlanta (7.7). Through the first semifinal, Fox Sports (FS1, FS1, Fox) is averaging a 1.1 overnight for the WWC, up from a 1.0 four years ago. While streaming numbers were not available at press time, they are likely to set a record for Fox (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).
MISSING OUT: In Chicago, Mikula, Rosenthal & Bannon write Fox Sports was a "loser" for its coverage of USWNT F Megan Rapinoe not playing in yesterday's match. The net "supposedly covering the World Cup had to rely on 'reports' to tell viewers at halftime" that Rapinoe was out with a hamstring injury. Fox Sports should have "fewer overwrought scene-setting montages and more journalism" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 7/3).
ANOTHER RECORD SET: The U.S.-England semifinal match was the "most watched television event of the year so far" in the U.K., "attracting a peak audience of 11.7 million." Viewing figures released by BBC showed the match "grabbed a peak share of the TV audience" of over 50%. It was the "fourth time this tournament that the record U.K. TV audience for a women's match had been broken" (AFP, 7/3). Meanwhile, Telemundo averaged a total audience delivery (TV+streaming) of 331,000 viewers for the quarterfinal round at the WWC, up 41% from four years ago (235,000) (Karp).
