A light week of soccer on TV last week, but there is a lot to get to. So here we go:
1. The USA v Mexico match continues to draw interest across both English and Spanish language television. ESPN2 carried the match this cycle and it delivered a solid 1.3m viewers, which was good enough for the number 2 overall program on the night for all cable programs. Pulling back a bit, the 1.3m is just the 16th best viewership number on the year on cable. The list is dominated by the Euro's last summer.
2. On broadcast TV, Univision pulled 2.3m for USA v Mexico. Over on ABC the World Cup qualifier between Spain and Sweden got 441k.
3. Also on broadcast TV was a surprise appearance of the FA Women's Super League (England). The Chelsea v City matchup pulled 320k viewers on NBC. The morning game on NBCSN that I enjoyed did not finish in the top 150 cable games on the day.
4. The MLS regular season is over so it's time for a quick look at how they did on cable vs last year on English language TV.
+9% ESPN
-18% ESPN2
-3% FS1--------------5% ESPN YOY without 9 AM games in 2020--------------41% ESPN's 2nd half drop off vs 1st half-66% FS1's 2nd half drop off vs 1st half
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sources: showbuzzdaily, spoilertv, helltown
Every blue moon or so I have to clarify how I consume soccer TV ratings.
A) I don't include broadcast TV soccer events in my analysis. I'll post the numbers, but I don't feel there's enough schedule consistency for it to tell me much more than "oh, that's an interesting number." It's too random for me. An example is that MLS admits to using broadcast windows to goose ratings. This year they wanted to have strong early-season ratings so they worked with ABC to front-load the season. Ultimately, there's nothing to compare it to so tying it to more consistent and more frequent cable numbers is like adding a booster (for lack of a better word). I'm sensitive to this because of my background in manufacturing and managing multiple lines of the same product. If I send all my supervisors to work on the line for a couple hours it would crush the other lines. Should I act on that and say that line is my best line? Of course not. It actually tells me less about what is going on with the line.
B) I generally don't combine numbers for the same event if it is simultaneously shown in English and Spanish. The main reason for this is that the demographics are different, but it's also a time thing for me. This isn't my job and it is time-consuming tracking down games on ESPN and Fox Deportes that don't fall in the top 150 shows on the night. That said, I have been looking at how TUDN is impacting MLS ratings on English Language networks. They are only in half the homes as ESPN and Fox Sports but they do pull a measurable number for most games.
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