Telemundo. Mun2 Reach 8.7 Million With Mexico-U.S. Match
Cable Net Cumes 1.2 Million With Three Telecasts Of World Cup Qualifer
Telemundo and cable cousin mun2 teamed to cume some 8.7 million viewers for its coverage of the World Cup qualifying match between Mexico and the U.S. on Wednesday.
The live simulcasts of the Aug. 12 match -- a 2-1 victory for the host team at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City - drew some 4.3 million watchers for Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo and 385,000 for mun2, which presented the game in English. Coverage of the match kicked off at 3:55 p.m. (ET).
With an encore on Telemundo and two other replays on mun2, the match cumed 8.7 million viewers over five total airings, according to Nielsen Media Research data, including 1.2 million for the cable service.
For mun2, which targets bicultural Latinos ages 18 to 34, the match marked its first coverage of a live major sporting event, and parent NBC Universal was able to secure a free preview with a number of distributors, notably with AT&T U-verse TV, Charter, Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and Time Warner Cable, that put in front of 67 million homes on Aug. 12.
The live contest attracted 275,000 adults 18 to 49 to mun2, its highest mark ever with the demo. Among adults 18 to 34, the match delivered 150,000 viewers, the second-highest in network history and the largest average in the time-period. The network also scored its best levels ever with adults 25 to 54, males 12 to 34, 18 to 34, 18 to 49, 25 to 49 and 25 to 54, according to network officials.
Adding in the 6 p.m. and 12:45 a.m (Aug. 13) encores of the match, the three contests cumed 1.2 million total viewers. The two extra showings added 181,000 persons 18 to 49, lifting mun2's total with the group to 356,000. The network also added another 111,000 watchers among the 18-to-34 set, bolstering its three-telecast total to 261,000.
On the broadcast side of the house, the live game among its 4.3 million watchers, averaged 2.7 million adults 18 to 49, topping the network's previous best for a World Cup qualifier, the April 1 match pitting Mexico against Honduras, by 9%.
Telemundo's coverage also played well with a host of demos: adults 18 to 34 (1.73 million); men 18-49 (164 million); men 18 to 34 (1.05 million), women 18 to 49 (1.04 million) and females 18 to 34 (685,000).
Gauged on a cumulative basis, the five matches on the two networks, according to Nielsen data, scored with 5.3 million adults 18 to 49. For Telemundo, the tallies were 7.5 million total viewers, including 4.6 million adults 18 to 49.
