As NBC Sports Group has finished its first season as the U.S. television home of the English Premier League, it has a few milestones to celebrate.
First, having aired and streamed all 380 fixtures live to the American people in 2013-14, audiences responded to the offerings. NBCUniversal says 31.5 million people watched this season’s coverage outpacing the audience on ESPN/Fox Sports Media Group for the previous campaign. Fox Sports was the main rightsholder putting games on Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus (not rated, however) and ESPN/ESPN2. NBC says in Fox/ESPN’s final year, its audience was 13.3 million.
NBC says its coverage of the final day of the regular season with all 10 games on 10 different NBCU networks garnered a total of 4.9 million viewers.
Overall, NBC and NBCSN averaged 438,000 viewers for the season compared to 222,000 on Fox/ESPN.
And online, NBC says its exclusive streams of 361 fixtures were a smash with audiences.
Among the top local markets for the EPL for both NBC and NBCSN, Washington, DC and New York were at the top. Seattle and San Francisco-Oakland also ranked in the top 10. Neighboring markets Boston and Providence were 4th and 9th respectively.
Here’s a review of the EPL season on NBC/NBCSN.
MORE THAN 31 MILLION TUNE IN TO NBC SPORTS GROUP’S COVERAGE OF 2013-14 PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON
Unprecedented Simultaneous “Championship Sunday” Presentation of All 10 Matches Live on Networks of NBCUniversal Reaches Nearly 5 Million Viewers
Nearly 260 Million Minutes of Live Premier League Action Streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra For the Season
Washington, D.C., New York, Baltimore, Boston & Seattle Top Local Market Ratings for Full SeasonSTAMFORD, Conn. — May 13, 2014 – NBCUniversal’s unprecedented presentation of “Championship Sunday” this past weekend concluded the most comprehensive season-long coverage of the Premier League available anywhere in the world, resulting in viewership and consumption milestones. NBC Sports Group’s 2013-14 Premier League programming featured the first time anywhere in the world that all 380 matches were presented live on television (196 games on the networks of NBCUniversal and 184 games on the Premier League Extra Time bonus TV package) and via live stream.
Widest U.S. TV Reach in Premier League History
- A record 31.5 million Americans tuned in to NBC Sports Group’s 2013-14 Premier League coverage – more than doubling the 13.3 million who watched last season on ESPN, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer, according to The Nielsen Company.
- On “Championship Sunday,” a total of 4.9 million fans tuned in for the season’s final day of matches on 10 English-language networks of NBCUniversal, up 172% from the prior U.S. “Championship Sunday” high of 1.8 million on the final day of the 2011-12 Premier League season on ESPN2, FX, Fox Soccer, Speed, and Fuel. In addition, Spanish-language networks Telemundo and mun2 each televised one match as part of NBCUniversal’s “Championship Sunday” coverage.
- Combined average viewership across the 10 networks of NBCUniversal on “Championship Sunday” was 1.8 million viewers – more than double the 869,000 viewers who watched on the final day in 2011-12.
Season-Long Premier League Viewership Records
- NBC and NBCSN combined to average 438,000 viewers – up 99% from last season’s combined average on ESPN, ESPN2 and FOX Soccer (220,000). On a cable-only comparison, NBCSN averaged 395,000 viewers, an 80% increase over the ESPN, ESPN2 and FOX Soccer average.
- 15 games (5 on NBCSN and 10 on NBC) averaged more than 750,000 viewers – up from 0 live games reaching that figure last year.
- Nine of the 10 most-watched Premier League games ever on cable were viewed on NBCSN this season.
- Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool – in a first-place v second-place matchup — on April 27 averaged 940,000 viewers and ranks as the most-watched early (pre-10 a.m. ET kickoff) Premier League match ever in the U.S.
- NBCSN’s Premier League coverage on Sunday, March 16, featuring a blockbuster doubleheader of Manchester United v. Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur v. Arsenal, averaged 725,000 viewers to rank as the most-watched Premier League Sunday doubleheader on cable ever.
- Bolstered by lead-ins from the Sochi Olympics as well as heavy promotion within Winter Games coverage, the 17 Premier League matches in February on NBC, NBCSN and USA Network averaged 609,000 viewers – marking the Premier League’s best month ever in the U.S.
Streaming Milestones
For the first time ever in the U.S., all 380 Premier League matches were streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktop, mobile and tablets. Of the 380 Premier League games streamed live, 361 were live streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to authenticated customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.
- Viewers consumed a total of 259.2 million minutes of live Premier League action via NBC Sports Live Extra during the 2013-14 season.
- On “Championship Sunday,” fans streamed more than 4.2 million minutes of live action – the best Sunday in Premier League history.
Most-Watched Games
Following are the 10 most-watched games of the 2013-14 Premier League season:
Date Match Network Viewers 2/8/14 Cardiff-Swansea City NBC 1.24 million 1/11/14 Swansea City-Man United NBC 1.10 million 2/22/14 Man United-Crystal Palace NBC 1.06 million 1/19/14 Man United-Chelsea NBCSN 1.02 million 11/2/13 Liverpool-Arsenal NBC 991,000 4/27/14 Chelsea-Liverpool NBCSN 940,000 9/14/13 Chelsea-Everton NBC 917,000 1/18/14 Aston Villa-Liverpool NBC 900,000 8/31/13 Sunderland-Crystal Palace NBC 865,000 9/22/13 Man United-Man City NBCSN 852,000 Local TV Ratings
Following are the U.S. TV markets with the highest average season-long ratings on NBCSN and NBC combined, and NBC only (note: all NBC games, other than on “Championship Sunday,” started at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT or later, while some NBCSN games kicked off as early as 7 am ET/4 am PT):
Top 15 Local Market Ratings, NBC & NBCSN combined
1. Washington, D.C. 9. Providence 2. New York 10. Philadelphia 3. Baltimore 11. Chicago 4. Boston 12. Buffalo 5. Seattle 13. Tampa 6. Richmond 14. Orlando 7. San Fran-Oakland 15. Miami 8. Norfolk Top 15 Local Market Ratings, NBC only
1. Seattle 9. Greensboro 2. Buffalo 10. Sacramento 3. Richmond 11. Cincinnati 4. Washington, D.C. 12. Los Angeles 5. Knoxville 13. Baltimore 6. Austin 14. Nashville 7. Las Vegas 15. Greenville 8. Tulsa The 2014-15 Premier League season kicks off on Saturday, August 16.
There you have it.
