NBC SPORTS REGISTERS 2ND-MOST WATCHED PREMIER LEAGUE SEASON EVER, WITH RECORD 12 MATCHES TOPPING 1 MILLION VIEWERS
Season Concludes with Most-Watched Championship Sunday Ever with Coverage Across Peacock and Networks of NBCUniversal
Peacock's Second Season with Extensive Premier League Content Features More Than 200 Live Matches, Studio Shows, On Demand Replays and Premier League TV Channel
USA Network Becomes U.S. Cable Home of the Premier League
NBC Sports' Premier League Mornings Studio Show Visits Iconic Venues Throughout Season
Washington, D.C. Tops Local Market Ratings for Full Season
STAMFORD, Conn. - May 24, 2022 - NBC Sports' 2021-22 presentation of the Premier League - culminating on "Championship Sunday" with down-to-the-wire competition for the league title, top four positioning, and relegation - registered the second-most watched season in U.S. TV history (behind only 2015-16) and set big-game viewership records.
NBC Sports averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 507,000 viewers per TV match window (includes NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBCSN) for the 2021-22 season - second-best ever and up 21% from last season (414,000) (does not include exclusive Peacock streaming or Spanish-language telecasts).
In addition, a record 12 matches this season averaged a TAD of at least 1 million viewers - 50% above the prior record (eight in 2020-21 and 2015-16).
For the ninth consecutive year, all 10 Premier League matches on the season's final Sunday were presented live, simultaneously (11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET) across Peacock and the networks of NBCUniversal - matching 2019 as the most-watched Championship Sunday ever with a TAD of 2.2 million viewers across all platforms.
Sunday's Manchester City-Aston Villa match on NBC and Peacock posted a TAD of 955,000 viewers - marking the most-watched Championship Sunday match on record - while Liverpool-Wolverhampton Wolves on USA Network was the most-watched Championship Sunday cable match on record (681,000).
In addition, NBC Sports presented extensive final Sunday pre-match and post-game shows on Peacock and USA Network, with extra, exclusive coverage on Peacock. The post-match shows highlighted champions Manchester City once again lifting the trophy, interviews, and final thoughts and analysis on the 2021-22 season.
NBC SPORTS' PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE TOURS ICONIC VENUES AND EVENTS
On Championship Sunday, NBC Sports' commentary teams were onsite at both The Etihad and at Anfield with both Manchester City and Liverpool in title contention. Sunday's trip culminated a season of visits to iconic venues and events for NBC Sports' Premier League Live studio show:
Date Venue Event
Oct. 23-24 Los Angeles Coliseum Premier League Mornings Live Fan Fest
Feb. 8-13 SoFi Stadium Home of Super Bowl LVI
April 8 St. James' Park Newcastle v. Wolverhampton Wanderers
April 9 Villa Park Aston Villa v. Tottenham
April 10 Etihad Stadium Manchester City v. Liverpool
May 7 Churchill Downs 148th Kentucky Derby
May 22 Anfield* Liverpool v. Wolverhampton Wanderers
*live coverage also presented from The Etihad
PREMIER LEAGUE 2021-22 VIEWERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
· Since kicking off its Premier League coverage in August 2013, NBC Sports has presented 28 of the 30 most-watched live Premier League matches ever in the U.S. across all platforms.
· NBC Sports kicked off the season with its most-watched Opening Weekend since 2015, posting a Total Audience Delivery average of 640,000 viewers (across five Saturday-Sunday match windows).
· NBCSN's opening Sunday Tottenham-Manchester City match posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 836,000 viewers to rank No. 2 all-time among opening weekend cable matches (behind only Christian Pulisic's PL debut, Manchester United-Chelsea, 8/11/19, 1.01 million).
· The Liverpool-Chelsea match on NBC and Peacock on August 28 delivered a TAD of more than 1.4 million viewers to rank as the most watched live Premier League match in U.S. history.
· USA Network's Manchester City-Liverpool game on April 10 registered a TAD of 1.1 million viewers to rank as the second most watched cable match in U.S. history.
· A record 1.3 billion minutes of NBC Sports' Premier League coverage was consumed on the NBC Sports YouTube channel.
· Video viewership across NBC Sports Soccer's handles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram increased by 63 percent over the 2020-21 season, while overall engagement on those platforms was up 58%.
· The 2 Robbies and Premier League on NBC podcasts delivered record highs in monthly downloads in each of the final three months of the season.
· The free-to-play game Premier League Pick 'Em continued to help grow the NBC Sports Predictor app userbase to more than 1.73 million fans, who have made nearly 45 million contest entries since the platform's launch in December 2018.
Throughout the season, NBC Sports' Premier League coverage featured a wide range of innovations and milestones. Among the highlights:
· PEACOCK COMPLETES SECOND FULL SEASON OF NBC SPORTS' PREMIER LEAGUE COVERAGE: Peacock featured more than 200 live matches, studio shows and replays, as well as the Premier League TV channel (PLTV). Throughout the season, Peacock presented matches live in both English and Spanish, as well as Premier League Goal Rush, featuring live whip-around coverage. For the first time, Telemundo Deportes' Andres Cantor called Premier League matches in English - exclusively on Peacock.
· USA NETWORK BECOMES U.S. CABLE HOME OF PREMIER LEAGUE: On January 1, USA Network became the cable home of the Premier League with a New Year's Day tripleheader. As noted above, USA Network's Manchester City-Liverpool on April 10 is the second most watched cable match in U.S. history and this past Sunday's Liverpool-Wolverhampton Wanderers is the most-watched Championship Sunday cable game on record.
· EXTENSIVE COVERAGE ON PODCASTS & NBC SPORTS YOUTUBE CHANNEL: NBC Sports continued Premier League discussion across all platforms, with a wide range of digital programming, highlighted by The 2 Robbies and The Lowe Down podcasts, which delivered season-ending editions from on the pitch at Anfield. In March, as part of NBC Sports' celebration of women's history, The 2 Robbies released a series of episodes featuring interviews with Sky Sports' Karen Carney, the Women of Watford hosted by Hornets defender, Christian Kabasele, Norwich City's Head of Emerging Talent, Mariela Nisotaki, Premier League referee, Sian Massey-Ellis, and Tottenham performance psychologist, Helen Richardson-Walsh.
· SEASON #8 OF THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW: Hosted by popular soccer personalities Roger Bennett and Michael Davies, THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW returned for an eighth season with big-name guests including John Oliver, Matthew McConaughey, Will Ferrell, Mark Cuban, Tottenham's Heung-min Son, Manchester City's Phil Foden, Brentford's Christian Eriksen, USMNT and RB Leipzig midfielder Tyler Adams, Leeds United head coach Jesse Marsch, Chelsea Women's Super League Club manager Emma Hayes, Joe Seaward and Dave Bayley of the Band 'Glass Animals,' musician Fatboy Slim, and more.
· MORE SPANISH-LANGUAGE COVERAGE THAN EVER: Miami-based Telemundo Deportes - the exclusive Spanish language home of the Premier League in the U.S. - presented more live matches than ever before across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock.
· NBC SPORTS ENHANCED CONTENT WITH POINTSBET INTEGRATION: PointsBet, the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports, was integrated into this season's Premier League coverage in various ways, including pre- and post-match odds features and ticker rotations with main betting markets throughout studio show programming.
· NBC SPORTS SUPPORTS ZERO CARBON INITIATIVE OF SKY SPORTS AND TOTTENHAM: NBC Sports' on-site production of the Sept. 19 Tottenham-Chelsea match supported the zero carbon (#GameZero) initiative by Sky Sports and Tottenham, streamlining production personnel at the grounds, and utilizing electrical and bicycle transport to the match for on-air and production staff.
Local TV Ratings
Following are the U.S. TV markets with the highest average season-long ratings on Premier League telecasts on NBC/USA Network/NBCSN:
Top 15 Local Market Ratings, NBC/USA/NBCSN
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Norfolk
3. Cincinnati
T4. Philadelphia
T4. Raleigh
T6. New York
T6. Richmond
8. Buffalo
9. Ft. Myers
T10. Hartford
T10. Miami
T10. San Francisco
T10. Baltimore
14. Sacramento
15. Providence
The 2022-23 Premier League season kicks off on the weekend of August 6-7.
-NBC SPORTS-
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