Ratings Roundup: Fox Sports, Telemundo Deportes, Univision Reap the Ratings Rewards During the Summer of Soccer

Ratings roundup is a rundown of rating news from the past week and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, the soccer world pours in astonishing numbers on Fox Sports, Telemundo Deportes, and Univision, and Fox Sports reflects on its first half of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series.

2019 FIFA World Cup on Fox Sports and Telemundo Deportes
The dramatic U.S. 2-1 victory over host team France scored a metered market rating of 4.9/14 on Friday afternoon. The match was the best-metered market rating ever for a FIFA Women’s World Cup Quarterfinal and for a match on English-language TV since the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final. The number was up +17% from U.S. quarterfinal in 2015, which aired in primetime and up +88% from 2011 U.S. quarterfinal.

On Telemundo Deportes, the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 331,000 viewers across Telemundo’s platforms – a 41% increase over the 2015 Women’s World Cup quarterfinals (235,000 average viewers). The contest was the second most live streamed Women’s World Cup match in the history of the network. USA’s 2-1 win against France also ranks as the most-watched FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 match on Universo averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 183,000 viewers.

Saturday’s Sweden vs. Germany duel averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 694,000 viewers ranking as the most-watched non-USA match on Telemundo this tournament and the second most-watched non-USA match in Spanish-language history (behind Colombia vs Mexico in 2015, 697,000 viewers).
On Digital, the tournament continues to drive record-breaking numbers, delivering a total of 26.2 million minutes across Telemundo Deportes’ digital videos. On social media, driven by the USWNT game, the Women’s World Cup France 2019 on Telemundo was the #1 most social Spanish-language program of the day.

Copa America Brazil on Telemundo Deportes
Telemundo Deportes’ presentation of the Copa America quarterfinals posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.1 million viewers. Coverage was highlighted by Chile’s win over Colombia on Friday night which was the #1 program in primetime among men 18-49 and 18-34 and #2 among adults 18-34, regardless of language. The match yielded a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.8 million viewers, becoming the most-watched quarterfinal Copa America matchup and the second most-watched of the tournament thus far – behind Argentina vs. Paraguay (2.1 million viewers). The match peaked at 2.3 million TV-only viewers during the last half hour. Peru’s historic win against Uruguay also delivered strong numbers yielding a Total Audience Delivery of 1.3 million viewers.

Thursday’s Brazil vs. Paraguay scored a Total Audience Delivery average of 770,000 viewers, becoming the most watched sporting event on Universo in the last three years- surpassing Super LII (543,000 viewers). It is also the third most-watched sports event in the history of the network.

On digital, Venezuela vs. Argentina delivered the most live-streamed match of the tournament thus far. Since the tournament began, Copa America has delivered 63.2 million minutes across Telemundo Deportes’ digital videos.

In the Group Stages, the tournament averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 1.0 million viewers. Eight of the 18 Copa America matches exceeded 1 million viewers across all platforms – quadrupling the two such games in 2015 – highlighted by 2.1 million viewers for the Argentina-Paraguay match on Wednesday, June 19.

On digital, Copa America delivered a total of 47.6 million minutes across Telemundo Deportes’ digital video.

Gold Cup on Univision
The Gold Cup quarterfinals averaged 1.8 Total Viewers 2+ and 906,000 Adults 18-49 and delivered the highest-rated men’s soccer match of the year and most-watched Gold Cup match since 2015 final featuring Jamaica vs. Mexico.

The Mexico National Team continues to be a force both on the field and in the ratings as its victory on Saturday night over Costa Rica on Univision/UDN drew 2.9 million Total Viewers 2+ and 1.5 million Adults 18-49 to become the top men’s match this year. The contest, airing from 10:00 p.m. – 12:58 a.m. ET, peaked during the 12:30 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. ET half hour with 3.3 million Total Viewers 2+ and 1.8 million Adults 18-49. Through its four Gold Cup matches, the MNT has averaged 2.7 million Total Viewers 2+ and 1.4 million Adults 18-49 and scored the four most-watched men’s matches of the year.

USMNT’s 1-0 win over Curacao on Sunday night on Univision/UDN was the team’s most-watched match since September 2018. Airing from 8:30 – 10: 30 p.m. ET, the contest delivered 1.6 million Total Viewers 2+ and 756,000 Adults 18-49, peaking from 10:00 – 10:30 p.m. ET with 1.8 million Total Viewers 2+ and 889,000 Adults 18-49. Overall, the USMNT has averaged 1.2 million Total Viewers 2+ and 510,000 Adults 18-49 during Gold Cup play.

Saturday’s exciting doubleheader quarterfinal action kicked off with Haiti-Canada. The 3-2 result in favor of Haiti generated 1.2 million Total Viewers 2+ and 496,000 Adults 18-49 during its two-hour game window. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Jamaica’s late goal secured a 1-0 victory, drawing 1 million Total Viewers 2+ and 450,000 Adults 18-49 and moving the team one step closer to Sunday’s final.

2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Fox Sports
Fox Sports wrapped its half of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season on Sunday, June 23. The first half averaged 4,076,000 viewers, up +2% from last year’s 3,980,000, excluding weather-impacted races both years, according to Nielsen Media Research. Fox Sports’ final race from Sonoma Raceway delivered 2,478,000 viewers, up +6% from last year’s 2,334,000.

Compared to the 2018 events, six of the 11 races in 2019 scored viewership increases. For the season, the Nielsen U.S. Household Rating was up +3% (2.44 vs. 2.37).

The top five markets for the first half of the season are Greensboro, N.C., Greenville, S.C., Richmond, Va., Charlotte and Indianapolis.

Digital and social highlights from the first half of the season include:

Streaming:

• Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series average minute audience per race for the 2019 season up +37% over 2018
• 2019 Daytona 500 was most-streamed Fox NASCAR event ever (53K AMA, +10% OVER 2018 Daytona)
• Two million fans streamed NASCAR programming on Fox Sports platforms in 2019, up +79% year-over-year

Social:

• 177 million video views of Fox NASCAR content across social platforms, up +51% year-over-year

Adding together streaming & social:

• 380 million digital consumption minutes for NASCAR content across Fox properties on streaming and social, up +80% year-over-year