Streaming viewership plays an important role in Telemundo’s World Cup viewership. More: Ben SimmonsThe return to Philadelphia hasn’t budged much, both men’s and women’s college basketball have held up well against the NFL, and more.
Streaming accounts for nearly 30% of Telemundo’s World Cup viewership
Through Tuesday, Telemundo averages 2.5 million viewers for its World Cup coverage, a figure that includes an additional streaming audience not tracked by Nielsen – an average of 711,000 viewers on Peacock and the app Telemundo Deportes. The overall audience is up by 44% compared to 2018 (1.7 M) and the streaming audience is up by 385% (against 147,000).
Streaming accounts for 29% of Telemundo’s coverage, which parent company NBC says is an “unprecedented” figure for a sporting event offered on both linear and streaming platforms.
Tuesday’s FIFA World Cup match Mexico-Poland averaged 4.6 million viewers on Telemundo and Peacock (including additional streaming data not tracked by Nielsen), down from the opener. ‘El Tri in 2018 against Germany (7.12 million on the linear alone) and his first match in 2014 on Univision (5.01M). Comparable figures in English on FOX were not immediately available.
The viewership included an average streaming audience of 1.3 million, the largest ever for a World Cup game.
Simmons’ return to Philadelphia fails to garner a big following
Despite Nets G Ben Simmons returning to Philadelphia, Tuesday’s Nets-Sixers NBA regular season game averaged 0.85 and 1.48 million viewers on TNT – a double-digit drop from the Lakers -Knicks (without-james lebron) last year (1.0, ~1.7M).
The Lakers-Suns Last Drink averaged 1.47 million viewers, up 9% from the Nuggets-Blazers a year ago (~1.4 million).
In other action, ESPN averaged 0.8M and 1.47M for the Knicks-Warriors last Friday night — versus Mavericks-Suns last year (0.8, ~1.4M). The Bucks-Sixers point guard had 0.8 and 1.34M, down double digits from last year’s Lakers-Celtics game (1.0, ~1.7M).
Kentucky-Gonzaga men, SC-Stanford women, not bad on NFL Sunday
Despite airing opposite the NFL, last Sunday’s Kentucky-Gonzaga men’s college basketball game averaged 0.7 and 1.36 million viewers on ESPN – ranking fourth for the young season behind the two games Champions Classic (Kentucky-Michigan State: 1.2, 2.03M; Duke -Kansas: 0.9, 1.56M) and the Armed Forces Classic (Gonzaga-Michigan State: 0, 8, 1.48M).
Moving on to the work week, Tuesday’s Creighton-Arkansas Maui Invitational semi-final drew an average of 1.16 million on ESPN – ranking fifth for the season so far.
On the women’s side, South Carolina-Stanford scored 0.43 and 727,000 on ABC Sunday afternoon — ranking second among all college basketball games last weekend and leading the Illinois-Virginia men’s game on ESPN head-to-head (0.22, 412K).
More: Gray Cup, LPGA, “Undisputed”
Last Sunday’s CFL Gray Cup averaged 158,000 viewers on ESPN2, up from 129,000 last year and a four-year high, according to CFL News Hub. … Coverage of the final round of the season-ending LPGA Tour championship averaged 0.28 and 411,000 viewers on NBC over the weekend, marking a slight increase from last year (0.27 , ~384K). … A World Cup intro propelled FS1 talk show “Undisputed” to its biggest ever audience on Monday (499K), although it still trailed rival ESPN talk show “First Take” in one-on-one (604K).
(Nielsen estimates from Telemundo PR, Programming Insider 11.23, ShowBuzz Daily 11.22)