The World Cup has set new viewing records in the United States both for television and for live streaming through smartphones, tablets and consumers. With most matches being shown in business hours, Americans have been turning to their devices to keep up.
The USA’s match with Belgiym arrived a 9.6 overnight rating with ESPN, the highest for any World Cup match the network has broadcast. There has been a 50 per cent surge in live streaming compared with the previous record, set during the 2012 London Olympics.
The World Cup has set new viewing records in the United States both for television and for live streaming through smartphones, tablets and consumers. With most matches being shown in business hours, Americans have been turning to their devices to keep up.
The USA’s match with Belgiym arrived a 9.6 overnight rating with ESPN, the highest for any World Cup match the network has broadcast. There has been a 50 per cent surge in live streaming compared with the previous record, set during the 2012 London Olympics.
US viewers have so far watched nearly 30 million hours of streaming video on ESPN’s World Cup site and apps. The USA v Germany match drew a record 1.7 million streaming viewers to ESPN at its peak. US fans have made up 20 per cent of Fifa’s global digital audience and have been spending more time on its website and apps than fans in Germany, Brazil, England and France combined.
Spanish language channel Univision said that its broadcast of the Mexico v. Netherlands match was the most watched programme of its kind in US Spanish-language TV history with an average 10.4 million viewers.
What remains to be seen is how viewing figures will hold up now that the USA has been eliminated from the tournament.