NBC Universal got what it was after with Wednesday night’s Mexico vs. USA World Cup qualifying match. Telemundo (Spanish) and mun2 (English) each set all-time network viewership records. Before the game NBCU had cut deals with several MSOs to greatly expand the availability of mun2 fro the special event.
Based on Nielsen data, NBU announced that 8.7 million viewers watched Rumbo al Mundial: Mexico vs. USA World Cup Qualifying soccer match on the family of Telemundo networks. The match, which aired on Wednesday, August 12, was the best-ever delivery for Rumbo al Mundial and the highest rated telecast in the history of Telemundo, averaging more Adults 18-49 than any program in network history. This was the first-ever live sporting event to air on Telemundo and mun2 simultaneously and the first time mun2 broadcast a major sporting event.
According to Nielsen Media Research data, 5.3 million Adults 18-49 tuned in to the match on the two networks.
On Telemundo, Rumbo al Mundial reached a cumulative audience of 4.6 million Adults 18-49 and 7.5 million total viewers. The live game averaged nearly 2.7 million Adults 18-49 and 4.3 million total viewers (Persons 2+). Telemundo delivered strong audience numbers in all key demographics, including Adults 18-34 (1,731,000), Men 18-49 (1,638,000), Men 18-34 (1,046,000), Women 18-49 (1,036,000) and Women 18-34 (685,000). Rumbo al Mundial: Mexico vs. USA surpassed the program’s previous record high of 2,462,000 Adults 18-49, set on April 1, 2009, featuring Honduras vs. Mexico by +9%.
mun2 delivered 385,000 total viewers (Persons 2+) during the game. 275,000 Adults 18-49 watched the live match on mun2, setting a new record for the network and delivering the highest audiences ever for any program on mun2 in this demographic. Among Adults 18-34, the match delivered 150,000 viewers, the second-highest in network history and the largest average in the time-period. The network attained its largest audiences ever among Adults 18-49; Adults 25-54, Men 12-34, Men 18-34, Men 18-49, M 25-49 and Men 25-54.
In addition to the dual broadcasts, for the first time ever, Telemundo streamed a soccer match live on futbolestelar.tv. Over 360,000 streams took place with 205,000 being live. Additionally, traffic surged across all Telemundo Digital properties propelling “Telemundo” in the Top Google Trends on Google and Top Twitter Topics on Twitter. mun2’s holamun2.com saw a jump of 214% of unique users the day of the game, which was fueled by live blogging and audience score predictions.
Locally, among Adults 18-49, Rumbo al Mundial was #1 across all stations regardless of language in the time period in the NSI markets of Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and San Francisco. The match was also #1 across all stations regardless of language in the time period among NSI households for Spanish-language stations in Las Vegas.
A live feed of the English-language broadcast was also provided to the American Forces Network, bringing this soccer match to US soldiers in military bases across the country and overseas.
