0 comments by Ken Fang on 8/15/2014
We have the announcing teams for the first three days of the English Premier League. The new season begins Saturday with eight matches. NBCSN has a doubleheader beginning at 7:45 a.m. ET with Manchester United hosting Swansea City then Leicester City vs. Everton at 10 a.m. NBC has Arsenal and Crystal Palace with Arlo White […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/23/2014
Beginning tonight and lasting into mid-August, Fox Sports 1 and the Fox Mothership will air 14 soccer games which will give us a hint of how the division will be covering the beautiful game over the next few years. With a series of Club Friendlies and the International Champions Cup that is being played among […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/16/2014
In a very long press release, NBC has issued the schedule for the first three months of the English Premier League. The new season begins on Saturday, August 16 at 7:45 a.m. ET when Manchester United takes on Swansea City. Then that will be followed by five matches in the 10 a.m. ET window. One […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/15/2014
As Univision ends its long association with the World Cup dating back to 1972, it goes out on top with its most-viewed Final in the network’s history. The Final between Germany and Argentina drew 9.2 million total viewers and an impressive five million in the key 18-49 age demographic. For Univision, the entire month of […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/14/2014
I never would have thought in a million years that the World Cup would see huge numbers, however, throw the baby out with the bath water this year. ESPN did a tremendous job in marketing the World Cup. The U.S. men’s national team became a huge story and for one month, the networks of ESPN […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
ESPN has announced that Sunday’s Germany-Argentina World Cup Final which aired on ABC, received a 9.7 overnight rating. It’s the third-highest overnight rating for a World Cup match behind the 1994 Final between Brazil and Italy (12.8) and the 1994 Round of 16 match between the USA and Brazil (10.4). Yesterday’s match was 13% better […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
As we wrap up the World Cup, it’s time to hand out the awards for soccer’s ultimate event. As you know, this is the last year for ESPN and Univision before they hand off to Fox and Telemundo. Both ESPN and Univision are coming off record ratings and viewership giving their successors some numbers that […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/12/2014
Univision Deportes is going all out for its final World Cup game until at least 2024. As it hands off to Telemundo next year, Univision will provide a full 12 hours of coverage for the World Cup Final in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday. Beginning at 11 a.m. ET and lasting all throughout the night, […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
ESPN and Univision are now down to their last two games in their long legacies with the World Cup. After Sunday, it’ll be up to Fox and Telemundo to provide the coverage of soccer’s ultimate event from 2015 until 2024. Hopefully the two networks will be able to match what ESPN and Univision have been […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/10/2014
Well, the World Cup viewing records continue to fall for ESPN. A day after setting a record for the Brazil-Germany 7-1 blowout, ESPN set another standard for Wednesday’s Netherlands-Argentina game. On Tuesday, Brazil-Germany received a 4.2 rating and 6.643 million viewers. The Netherlands-Argentina match garnered a 4.3 rating and 6.823 million viewers. These numbers will […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/8/2014
Just four more match days in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It begins today with the first semifinal between the host country Brazil and a heavy favorite in Germany. And tomorrow will pit the 2010 runner-up Netherlands against another favorite, Argentina. Ian Darke and Steve McManaman call today’s game for ESPN while Jon Champion and […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/5/2014
ESPN is certainly happy that there’s still interest in the World Cup despite the United States being eliminated earlier this week. Brazil vs. Colombia is now the most-watched World Cup quarterfinal on the networks of ESPN garnering a 3.6 fast national rating and just under 6.35 million viewers. So to the detractors of soccer and […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/4/2014
I did not provide you the announcing assignments for Friday’s games as I had to go the Emergency Room to deal with a breakout of hives. After getting a shot of Benadryl, I’m now much better, but it was a difficult night for me going into July 4th. Anyway, I’m fine now and here are […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/3/2014
This has become an action-packed podcast and with two guests that are quite prevalent in sports media. Bob Ley of ESPN joins us from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the World Cup is being played. We discuss the following topics: What he’s seen in Brazil; The World Cup itself; Some of his thoughts on the […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/2/2014
Univision/Univision Deportes saw a combined 5.1 million viewers for USA-Belgium. We noted earlier that ESPN garnered an audience of 16.5 million for the game so overall, the game had a combined audience of 21.6 million viewers. Online, Univision saw 1.8 million unique viewers so with the combined online and TV audience, the game had just […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
We have the World Cup quarterfinal announcing assignments on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. On Friday, ESPN2 will air France vs. Germany followed by Brazil vs. Colombia on ESPN. Then on Saturday, ABC airs Argentina vs. Belgium followed by the Netherlands vs. Costa Rica on ESPN. The excellent teams of Jon Champion/Stewart Robson and Ian Darke/Steve […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
The numbers are in. The USA-Belgium game on ESPN registered 16.5 million viewers becoming the 2nd most-watched men’s soccer game in U.S. television history. It falls below the USA-Portugal game on June 22. ESPN averaged a 9.8 rating for the game, better than the 9.6 rating for USA-Portugal. To be exact, the game averaged 16.491 […]
0 comments by Ken Fang
The game may have resulted in a loss, but the overnight rating for USA-Belgium was a big win for ESPN. It ended as the highest overnight rating ever for a World Cup game on ESPN networks. Overall, the game averaged a 9.6 rating and peaking at an amazing 14.1 in the 5:45-6 p.m. ET quarter-hour. […]
0 comments by Ken Fang on 7/1/2014
To get you ready for today’s Belgium vs. USA game on ESPN/Univision, we have all of Ian Darke’s goal calls from the US Men’s National Team’s group games. Darke is so good. Let’s go. I believe that we can win!
0 comments by Ken Fang
The last of the Round of 16 is today and the USA will be the last game of the Round just like it was to end Group Play. The opponent today is Belgium, not as formidable as Germany, but a tough match. After today, there will be two off days and then the Quarterfinals begin […]
