UPDATE: The ratings for the Saturday July 5 match on ABC are in (along with the rest of last week’s broadcast ratings outside of prime time, which always take a while). The Argentina vs Belgium Quarterfinal match averaged 4.6 million viewers 2+ (ranking #15 out of 62 matches so far). In the key sales demographics this match was also one of the lowest-rated Knockout Stage matches in 2014.
Ratings for Wednesday’s second semifinal (Argentina vs Netherlands) made it into the top 10 of all 2014 World Cup matches to date (ranking #9 out of 61 62 so far). Again, men 18-34 was the stand-out demographic group, the only key demo to exceed the 2014 Knockout Stage average. If Tuesday’s 7-1 blowout/ laugher/ humiliation/ beat-down/ obliteration/ annihilation lacked suspense, Wednesday’s scoreless match settled by the glorious shoot-out was tense and taut, and it certainly would have had even bigger ratings if ESPN again had gone with a telecast window that started at the normal 3:30 pm ET rather than the 3:00 pm start time with 30 extra minutes of lower-rated pre-game banter. By all means, broadcast the pre-game show, just rate it as a separate program and preserve the rating of the main game telecast.
| 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 62) |
|
|
|
|
|
| 8. |
Sat |
Jun 28 |
11:30 am |
ABC |
Brazil vs Chile |
1-1 (3-2) |
5,674,000 |
2.26 |
3.07 |
2.81 |
| 10. |
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 |
| 39. |
Mon |
Jun 30 |
11:30 am |
ESPN |
France vs Nigeria |
2-0 |
2,527,000 |
1.01 |
1.48 |
1.59 |
| 17. |
Mon |
Jun 30 |
3:30 pm |
ESPN |
Germany vs Algeria |
2-1 |
4,306,000 |
1.71 |
2.46 |
2.43 |
| 32. |
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 |
| 18. |
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 |
| 15. |
Sat |
Jul 5 |
11:30 am |
ABC |
Argentina vs Belgium |
1-0 |
4,588,000 |
1.73 |
2.17 |
1.94 |
| 12. |
Sat |
Jul 5 |
3:30 pm |
ESPN |
Netherlands vs Costa Rica |
0-0 (4-3) |
5,260,000 |
1.97 |
2.70 |
2.55 |
| 13. |
Tue |
Jul 8 |
3:00 pm* |
ESPN |
Germany vs Brazil |
7-1 |
5,112,000 |
1.88 |
2.67 |
3.00 |
| 9. |
Wed |
Jul 9 |
3:00 pm* |
ESPN |
Argentina vs Netherlands |
0-0 (4-2) |
5,513,000 |
2.03 |
2.84 |
3.20 |
| 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 9 |
Knockout Stage (ESPN/ABC/ESPN2) |
5,462,000 |
2.09 |
2.88 |
2.85 |
| 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 |
– |
3,442,000 |
1.37 |
1.93 |
2.11 |
| – |
Mon-Fri |
5:30 pm |
ESPN |
– |
3,098,000 |
1.34 |
1.99 |
2.18 |
| – |
Sat-Sun |
11:30/2:30 |
ESPN/ABC |
– |
4,721,000 |
1.91 |
2.63 |
2.46 |
| – |
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 Monday morning when we will post metered-market overnight ratings (household ratings only) for Saturday’s consolation match for third-place (Brazil vs Netherlands) on ESPN and Sunday’s championship match (Germany vs Argentina) on ABC.
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