UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: FC INTERNAZIONALE MILANO / FC BARCELONA UNIVISION DEPORTES 2:51 PM 129 0.13 248k UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: NAPOLI VS. PARIS ST GERMAIN TURNER NETWORK TELEVISION 2:53 PM 130 0.08 237k Interesting that Inter-Barca on UDN beat Napoli-PSG on TNT when a) TNT is in twice the amount of homes as UDN and b) the match was also on Univision over-the-air and c) no Messi.
Barca has a huge following in many Latino communities in the USA. Even without Messi playing it is must see tv for most.
Of course. But on the backup cable channel? It's not a huge amount of people but still pretty interesting. And not incredibly great news for Turner. However, getting the Champions League on America's top Spanish language media platform is proving to be terrific for UEFA.
Well, it just reinforces to me why beIN focuses so much on Barca and Real MAdrid while seems to ignore other teams (as others around here complain about). Other factors I am going to throw out there: 1) TNT's feed audio mix is just so bad. 2) UND does a much better job of promoting their Champions League Products, especially during Mexican League and MLS games. 3) It is a lot easier to watch TNT games on DVR and OnDemand at a later time than it is UDN.
Also, these aren't huge audience numbers, the Champs League is still a weekday afternoon niche product. So it's not hard for the more enthusiastic Spanish language audience to beat the small English language market.
From a big weekend: Saturday (Palace-Spurs NBC 655k) -- PREMIER LEAGUE L: BURNLEY/LEICESTER NBC SPORTS NETWORK 9:55 AM 129 0.13 354k -- LIGA MX L: CRUZ AZUL / LOBOS BUAP UNIVISION DEPORTES 5:55 PM 120 0.11 272k -- LIGA MX 2 SAT: NECAXA / MONTERREY UNIVISION DEPORTES 10:00 PM 120 0.09 223k -- PREMIER LEAGUE L: BRIGHTON/CARDIFF NBC SPORTS NETWORK 7:23 AM 131 0.08 197k -- BUNDESLIGA L: DORTMUND/BAYERN MUNICH FOX SPORTS 2 12:15 PM 142 0.05 138k Sunday PREMIER LEAGUE L: MANCHESTER UNITED/MANCHESTER CITY NBC SPORTS NETWORK 11:24 AM 133 0.29 750k -- LIGA MX SUN: SANTOS / AMERICA UNIVISION DEPORTES 6:55 PM 131 0.22 527k -- PREMIER LEAGUE L: EVERTON/CHELSEA NBC SPORTS NETWORK 9:10 AM 134 0.16 438k -- MLS PLAYOFFS L: ATLANTA/NEW YORK CITY FC ESPN 5:20 PM 141 0.11 285k -- COPA LIB FINALS FOX DEPORTES 2:40 PM 81 0.12 255k -- MLS PLAYOFFS L: SPORTING KANSAS CITY/REAL SALT LAKE ESPN 3:00 PM 140 0.08 253k -- PREMIER LEAGUE L: FULHAM/LIVERPOOL NBC SPORTS NETWORK 6:53 AM 129 0.08 242k -- MLS PLAYOFFS L: CONF SEMI:NEW YORK RED BULLS/COLUMBUS FOX SPORTS 1 7:30 PM 150 0.09 188k
I turned on the Fox Network at 12:30 to see if it was on, and noticed they had college football on instead. I streamed some of the game. But Fox Sports 2 is a no go. On the other had literally nothing else is on at 7:30 AM besides Cardiff and Brighton, so soccer fans that are up will watch
Obviously the PL is the most popular league, but ever since FS1 and FS2 were first broadcast I've had access to both without really having to make an effort to ensure that's the case. There must still be TV providers who treat FS2 as worthy of being in a special package or higher tier.
Bundesliga definitely nowhere near as popular in the US as the Prem, that's seen when they're on similar networks (FOX/NBC, FS1/NBCSN) -- but not a lot of Americans get FS2 and many who do have no idea it's there.
For reference, I just found an article from June that claimed the following TV coverage numbers: FS2: 57.6 million FS1/ESPN/ESPN2/NBCS: 83.5+ million Not sure WTF Fox is doing to keep FS2 out of the standard group of sports channels everyone gets with a basic TV package. The idea that someone who has an interest in sports wouldn't know they have FS2 is pretty nuts. I'm not saying this isn't the case because it's well-verified that people are idiots, but FS2 is literally right next to FS1 on every channel guide I've ever seen.
There’s not much they can do other than ask providers to pay more to move it up. Clearly Comcast and others don’t see the value. The whole FS1 and FS2 project just came too late in the cable tv era. Other than some big auto racing, baseball, WC and UFC events, FS1/2 has been a bust. Just doesn’t attract the eyeballs, enthusiasm and traction that ESPN did (and still does to a lesser extent).
FS2 started as a car racing channel that wasn't widely available. By the time it was converted to FS2, which was not that long ago, it was either on a different tier or not carried at all. I think this is normally corrected when carriage deals are renegotiated, and I don't know how long those deals last, but probably very long. It explains why many are still offering Fox Soccer channel.
FS1 is important for college sports. They have Number 4 Michigan in Football today. In Men's Basketball, defending champion Villanova has 15 games on FS1 or FS2 (mostly on FS1 with 2 on FS2). That includes the 3 games that they played so far. I'm disappointed the Red Bulls vs. Columbus got fewer viewers than Sporting Kansas City vs. Real Salt Lake. The latter game has small markets by MLS standards and was competing with many NFL games. The Red Bulls were competing with Sunday Night Football that did not have a team in New Jersey or Ohio. A lot of FS2 is UFC. Among sports fans who do not watch UFC, I wonder what percent get FS2 and know what channel it is (or how to access it on Sling, YouTube TV, etc.). Fios offered FS2 at the same level as FS1 as soon as FS1 and FS2 started. At first they offered FS1 HD but FS2 only SD, but now they have FS2 HD.
Tougher to get those because they don't show up in cable lists and it was a daytime kickoff over here.
I am very curious what the numbers are hypothetically. Part of me says that maybe more people would have tuned in. But Spain-Croatia was on at the same time on Galavision so that may have fractured things a bit.
Argentina - Mexico: 367 k on Univisión Deportes England - Croatia: 210 k on ESPN2, 126 k on Univisión Deportes. Netherlands - France: 121 k on Univisión Deportes Italy - Portugal: 116 k on Univisión Deportes América - Chivas Guadalajara: 96 k on Fox Deportes
Concacaf U-20 - United States - Mexico: 135 k on Univisión Deportes Chivas Guadalajara - Tigres UANL: 299 k on Univisión Deportes América - Veracruz: 283 k on Univisión Deportes Monarcas Morelia - Cruz Azul: 279 k on Univisión Deportes Puebla - Tijuana: 242k on Univisión Deportes Querétaro - Necaxa: 175 k on Univisión Deportes Lobos BUAP - Toluca: 128 k on Univisión Deportes Atlanta United - New York Red Bulls: 334 k on ESPN Portland Timbers - Sporting Kansas City: 237 k on Fox Sports 1 River - Boca (Saturday): 265 k on Fox Deportes Manchester City - West ham: 348 k on NBC Sports Arsenal - Bournemouth: 262 k on NBC Sports Huddersfield - Wolverhamption: 265 k on NBC Sports Atlético de Madrid - Barcelona: 100 k on BeIn Sports