Ratings for Tuesday’s annihilation of Brazil at the hands of Germany in the first of two semi-final matches was a rather ho-hum 5.1 million viewers 2+ on ESPN (ranking #12 of 60 matches so far in the 2014 World Cup and slightly below the Knockout Stage average so far). The adult 18-49 and men 18-49 rating on ESPN yesterday were also below their respective 2014 Knockout Stage averages, but men 18-34 managed to get in front of their television sets in solid numbers (3.00 men 18-34 rating saw Germany vs Brazil compared to a 2.90 average for the Knockout Stage matches so far). These numbers should not be this low, however. Once again, ESPN expanded its rated window for the match from the standard 3:30-6:00 pm ET time period (150 minutes) to 3:00-6:06 pm (186 minutes). The extra six minutes past 6 pm are completely understandable, but including the 3:00-3:30 pre-game coverage in the match rating is insane. It just serves to diminish the rating of the event and lessens the P.R. value of the coverage.
World Cup 2014 — U.S. Television Ratings | Total Viewers | Demographic Ratings | ||||||||
Rank | Day | Date | Start ET | Net | Match (winner listed first) | Score | Persons 2+ | Adults 18-49 | Men 18-49 | Men 18-34 |
Most Recent Matches (including rank out of 60) | ||||||||||
8. | Sat | Jun 28 | 11:30 am | ABC | Brazil vs Chile | 1-1 (3-2) | 5,674,000 | 2.26 | 3.07 | 2.81 |
9. | Sat | Jun 28 | 3:30 pm | ABC | Colombia vs Uruguay | 2-0 | 5,316,000 | 2.09 | 2.87 | 2.80 |
6. | Sun | Jun 29 | 11:30 am | ESPN | Netherlands vs Mexico | 2-1 | 5,743,000 | 2.39 | 3.34 | 3.14 |
5. | Sun | Jun 29 | 3:30 pm | ESPN | Costa Rica vs Greece | 1-1 (5-3) | 5,896,000 | 2.46 | 3.48 | 3.26 |
37. | Mon | Jun 30 | 11:30 am | ESPN | France vs Nigeria | 2-0 | 2,527,000 | 1.01 | 1.48 | 1.59 |
15. | Mon | Jun 30 | 3:30 pm | ESPN | Germany vs Algeria | 2-1 | 4,306,000 | 1.71 | 2.46 | 2.43 |
30. | Tue | Jul 1 | 11:30 pm | ESPN | Argentina vs Switzerland | 1-0 | 3,173,000 | 1.23 | 1.82 | 1.97 |
2. | Tue | Jul 1 | 3:30 pm | ESPN | Belgium vs USA | 2-1 | 13,440,000 | 4.61 | 6.04 | 6.13 |
16. | Fri | Jul 4 | 11:30 am | ESPN2 | Germany vs France | 1-0 | 4,233,000 | 1.76 | 2.35 | 2.28 |
7. | Fri | Jul 4 | 3:30 pm | ESPN | Brazil vs Colombia | 2-1 | 5,683,000 | 2.20 | 2.98 | 2.86 |
. | Sat | Jul 5 | 11:30 am | ABC | Argentina vs Belgium | 1-0 | Data | expected | Friday | 8 am PT |
11. | Sat | Jul 5 | 3:30 pm | ESPN | Netherlands vs Costa Rica | 0-0 (4-3) | 5,260,000 | 1.97 | 2.70 | 2.55 |
12. | Tue | Jul 8 | 3:00 pm* | ESPN | Germany vs Brazil | 7-1 | 5,112,000 | 1.88 | 2.67 | 3.00 |
Averages by Tournament Stage | ||||||||||
– | Jun 12-Jun 26 | Group Stage (ESPN/ABC/ESPN2) | 3,112,000 | 1.28 | 1.82 | 1.86 | ||||
– | Jun 28-Jul 8 | Knockout Stage (ESPN/ABC/ESPN2) | 5,530,000 | 2.13 | 2.94 | 2.90 | ||||
Daypart Averages to Date (USA Matches and ESPN2 Excluded) | ||||||||||
– | Mon-Fri | 11:30 pm | ESPN | – | 2,184,000 | 0.89 | 1.34 | 1.48 | ||
– | Mon-Fri | 2:30/3:30 | ESPN | – | 3,294,000 | 1.32 | 1.93 | 2.11 | ||
– | Mon-Fri | 5:30 pm | ESPN | – | 3,098,000 | 1.34 | 1.95 | 2.00 | ||
– | Sat-Sun | 11:30/2:30 | ESPN/ABC | – | 4,732,000 | 1.92 | 2.67 | 2.50 | ||
– | Sat-Sun | 5:30/8:30 | ESPN/ABC | – | 3,900,000 | 1.68 | 2.37 | 2.25 | ||
World Cup 2010 Comparisons | ||||||||||
ESPN Averages | ||||||||||
– | var | June 11-July 7 | ESPN | All Live 2010 Matches | 2,281,000 | 1.03 | 1.55 | 1.63 | ||
– | var | June 11-July 7 | ESPN | 2010 USA Matches | 5,038,000 | 2.19 | 3.14 | 3.34 | ||
– | var | June 11-25 | ESPN | Group Stage Live Matches | 2,131,000 | 0.97 | 1.47 | 1.57 | ||
– | var | June 26-July 7 | ESPN | Knockout Stage Live Matches | 2,792,000 | 1.21 | 1.79 | 1.85 |
Note: The next update will come Thursday afternoon when we will post ESPN ratings for the Wednesday July 9 semifinal (Argentina vs Netherlands). On Friday morning we will have the ABC ratings (at long last) for Saturday July 5 (Argentina vs Belgium).
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