By Keach Hagey
Americans are increasingly developing a taste for the "beautiful
game," at least when their own team is playing.
Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana drew
15.9 million viewers total between the two channels carrying the
game, ESPN and Univision, according to preliminary overnight
Nielsen ratings. The figure set World Cup viewership records for
both networks.
ESPN, which is airing the World Cup in English along with ESPN2
and ABC, drew 11.1 million total viewers, making it the most-viewed
men's soccer match ever on ESPN or ESPN2, the network said. The
match also set a record for ESPN's mobile streaming app, Watch
ESPN, which had a total of 1.4 million viewers.
Univision, which is broadcasting the World Cup in Spanish on its
Univision and UniMas broadcast networks and Univision Deportes and
Galavision cable networks, drew an audience of 4.8 million total
viewers, making it the most-watched World Cup game featuring a U.S.
team ever broadcast on its airwaves. The broadcast beat the opening
U.S. match of the 2010 World Cup, against England, by 17% in total
viewers.
While the viewership figures of Monday's game set World Cup
records for both ESPN and Univision, the total fell short of the
24.7 million who tuned in to the World Cup final in 2010 on ABC and
Univision together.
Online, where Univision Communications Inc. is streaming all of
the World Cup games during the first two rounds without requiring
users to "authenticate," or enter a pay-TV password, Univision's
stream of the U.S. vs. Ghana game drew 1.7 million streams, making
it the fourth most-watched live stream on Univision Digital to
date, the company said.
Monday's game was part of a broader trend of increased World Cup
viewership for Walt Disney Co. networks. ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC--all
owned by Disney--have averaged 4.1 million viewers through the
first 14 matches, marking an increase of 23% over the 2010 World
Cup, according to ESPN.
Univision's World Cup viewership is up 48% over 2010, the
company said.
Still, Americans tune in to the sport, which the rest of the
world calls "football," at a fraction of the rate they tune into
their own football. Last year, "Sunday Night Football" on NBC was
the No. 1 show on U.S. television, averaging about 22 million
viewers, according to Nielsen. NFL playoff games attracted even
bigger audiences. This year's Super Bowl, broadcast on Fox, drew a
record 111.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Write to Keach Hagey at keach.hagey@wsj.com
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