UEFA Final Sets ESPN & ESPN Deportes Records on TV & Online
Yesterday’s UEFA Champions League final live on ESPN from Rome – a 2-0 victory for Barcelona over Manchester United – was the highest-rated and most-watched UEFA telecast in cable television history, with an average of more than one million homes. It also was the most-watched telecast ever for ESPN Deportes, which has received Hispanic household ratings for 13 months. With an average of nearly half a million Hispanic homes, it is the second-most watched program on Spanish-language cable television in the U.S. this year.
The telecast, aired Wednesday, May 28, at 2:30 p.m. ET, was seen on ESPN by an average of 1,066,000 homes (and 1,428,000 viewers, P2+), based on a 1.1 rating. The previous UEFA record was last year’s final on ESPN2 — 798,000 homes (and 1,097,000 viewers), based on a 0.8 rating. In that game, Manchester United edged Chelsea on penalty kicks. Overall, 267 UEFA telecasts have aired, all on ESPN networks (19 on ESPN and 248 on ESPN2), starting in March 1994.
On ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language telecast earned a 9.9 Hispanic coverage rating, representing 474,000 Hispanic homes, the biggest audience and second-highest rating the network has ever received. The only higher rating was 10.1 for the Euro 2008 Final (Spain vs. Germany). For all Spanish-language cable, the only bigger rating and audience in 2009 was an Interliga game between the Chivas and America teams on Fox Sports Sports en Espanol on Janaury 3. It earned a 12.0 rating and average of 613,000 Hispanic households.
The UEFA Champions League Final also drove records on ESPN digital platforms. ESPNDeportes.com enjoyed a record day, with more than 920,000 visits, a 27% increase over the day of last year’s final. Visits to ESPNsoccernet.com were also up significantly, to 1.5 million, a 17 percent increase over last year’s final. The combined 2.4 million visits represent a 20 percent rise over last year.
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