FX Scores Top Champions League Semifinal With Chelsea-Barcelona

With its coverage of Chelsea's win over defending champion FC Barcelona in the first leg, FX scored the most-watched non-UEFA Champions League telecast in the U.S.

The April 18 telecast averaged 592,000 watchers, according to Nielsen data. That made it the most-watched English-language soccer match on U.S. television since Fox Sports' Barclay's Premier League broadcast of Chelsea-Manchester United drew 1.38 million watchers on Feb. 5, 2012. Fox officials said that given available data, Chelsea-Barca is also believed to be the most-watched UEFA Champions League non-final match ever.

Wednesday's semifinal attracted 566,000 viewers on Fox Deportes, and 1.158 million when combined with the FX audience, up 3% from last year's combined first Wednesday semifinal. The audience grew by one-third among males 18 to 34 demographic -- 472,000 of those watchers vs. 355,000 a year ago.

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