Bingo. All about the advertisers and making sure they know their money is still well spent with all the eyeballs watching.
True, they don't want people to forget. And you do hear many people claiming the EPL is the most popular soccer league in the USA, Univision is making sure people know that is not accurate.
The Premier League smashed the million mark for number of viewers. It's not only the first time for NBCSN, but also in the calendar year 2014. Moreover, it's the second time in US cable TV history for a Premier League matchday to reach the seven digit number (the other is the Manchester City vs. Manchester United matchup on ESPN). It's amazing. More Than 1 Million Soccer Fans In US Watched NBCSN’s Coverage of Chelsea-Manchester United [January 22, 2014] http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/01/...tm_campaign=Feed:+EPLTalk+(World+Soccer+Talk)
Steve Lepore @stevelepore 1m EPL on NBC hit a season high for... Swansea-Cardiff? on Saturday with a 1.0 rating. Olympic lead-out like helped.
The USWNT's match against Canada on 1/31 was FS1's 6th highest program for that week with 249K viewers according to Son of the Bronx.
I really see a strong finish for EPL down the stretch during April and May....The approaching WC2014 will add more fuel to the fire...
I don't know how many fans know and care about this, but any game between clubs from 10th to 20th is important in the battle to survive. With 10th place Swansea City only 4 points above the relegation zone, I'd say only 9 clubs are totally safe at about the two-thirds point of the season. In terms of points Swansea City is closer to 20th than to 9th. Over the last ten complete seasons, the average gap between 10th and 20th was 22.7 points with a range from 14 to 38 (I gave Portsmouth in 2009-2010 credit for the 28 points they earned on the field and ignored their point penalty). That gap is currently only 7 points.
True - but that Cardiff-Swansea rating was all about the Olympics. Audience probably spiked in the last 15 minutes with people tuning in for the Games.
NBCSportsPR @NBCSportsPR NBCSN's Wed. Arsenal-Man United game posts .49 overnight -- matching best weekday @PremierLeague overnight of season (Man U-Chelsea 8/26/13) Too bad it was utter rubbish. It could've been a great showcase of the Premier League and the sport to the casual viewers who were tuning in for the Olympics.
It seems like most of these great matches that have been hyped up this season have ended 0-0. (Sorry if I spoiled things for anyone but it is the day after so hopefully most of you have seen it already.)
Already, it's the 2nd time in this calendar year (2014) NBCSN delivered the seven digit viewership number for a Premier League matchday - a new record. Worldsoccertalk.com pointed out the major beneficiaries: The "2014 Winter Olympics" effect, the news story of the sacking of Michael Laudrup, and the lure of a major derby matchday, especially between Swansea City and Cardiff City (The Battle of Wales). In all of this, it attracted hard core and casual soccer (football) fans as well as non-soccer fans in large numbers. It's an extraordinary that both Cardiff City and Swansea City don't have the global brand reach like Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea, yet the game drew high interest, which is awesome. In my opinion, a lot of credit goes to NBC and the Premier League for promotion and raising the the profile of each football club. NBC Breaks Its Record After 1.2 Million Watch Swansea vs Cardiff On US TV http://worldsoccertalk.com/2014/02/...-2-million-watch-swansea-vs-cardiff-on-us-tv/
I really hate to keep poo-pooing the Cardiff-Swansea rating, but it really is all about the Olympics and next to nothing to do with the content of the Welsh rivalry. Sacking of Michael Laudrup? I can't see that pulling in any extra viewers over here. Their first derby fixture actually did poorly on NBCSN in November - and that match probably had more traction then because it was their first meeting in the Prem... I would probably estimate that the match got a 500k boost just from people who left their TVs on expecting more Olympics coverage (that and the last 15 minute lead in boosting the average). And then they blasted NBC on Twitter for not showing more coverage from Sochi. Oh look... https://twitter.com/search?q=olympics soccer nbc&src=typd
Some more examples of Olympics inflation here -- http://sonofthebronx.blogspot.com/2014/02/nbc-sports-network-nbcsn-fox-sports-1_14.html RANK PROGRAM DAY TIME DUR HH P2+(000) 1 WINTER OLYMPICS-DAY Sun 6:00AM- 2:23PM 503 1.8 2887 2 WINTER OLYMPICS-DAY Sat 6:00AM- 2:30PM 510 1.6 2585 3 WINTER OLYMPICS-PM Sat 6:07PM- 8:00PM 113 1.0 1757 4 WINTER OLYMPICS-PM Sun 4:20PM- 7:00PM 160 0.5 916 5 PREMIER LEAGUE ENCORE Sat 2:30PM- 4:30PM 120 0.5 840 6 PREMIER LEAGUE ENCORE Sun 2:23PM- 4:20PM 117 0.5 736 7 PREMIER LEAGUE (live) Mon 2:54PM- 5:01PM 127 0.4 600 Two replays getting a bigger audience than City-Chelsea?
We should be in the final stretch before the new TV contract is announced. Since the rumor of the new tv contract surfaced, MLS was able to announce the new Miami franchise and repurchase of Chivas USA. The two announcements raised the value of the MLS, and now we will are poised to see two vibrant teams in the LA market playing in different stadiums. I think the last piece of the puzzle will be the announcement of the Atlanta market. We could hear an announcement shortly before the official contract is signed. It appears that MLS wanting to do some more housekeeping before they sign the dooted lines with their TV partners. MLS could ask for 6 year contract vs 8 year, and still with more money in their pocket. They might feel like they have the upper hand by building more value to their franchise model. The Atlanta market will give MLS another Top 10 TV market (the only one missing), thus helping their contract negotiations. I would wait till I get this deal done as well because it will be another significant milestone for MLS. In summary, I think MLS is almost done before we hear about the new TV contract. This could happen before the season starts, or later in March/April time-frame. The new TV contract could be shorter than previously announced, or it could be for 8 years, but with more dollars attached to the contract.
Wasn't the league PAYING to be on TV up until about 2005 or so? Crazy to think about the strides made in such a short time.
PREMIER LEAGUE ENJOYS ITS MOST-WATCHED MONTH IN U.S. HISTORY IN FEBRUARY ON NETWORKS OF NBCUNIVERSAL http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...s-history-in-february-on-nbcuniversal/241524/ "The 17 Premier League matches on NBC, NBCSN and USA Network averaged 609,000 viewers – a 76% jump from The League’s best U.S. month prior to NBC Sports Group’s August 2013 debut of Premier League coverage (346,000 in Sept. 2011 for 12 matches on Fox/Fox Soccer and ESPN2)." http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2014...-of-premier-league-soccer-in-u-s-history.html
UEFA Champions League Soccer Powers FOX Sports 1 to Viewership Records http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ampaign=Feed:+Tvbythenumbers+(TVbytheNumbers) SA www.soccertvblog.com
NBCSN Posts Most Watched Premier League Sunday Doubleheader On Cable Ever http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/20...ampaign=Feed:+Tvbythenumbers+(TVbytheNumbers) SA www.soccertvblog.com