NBC sets record as most-watched Premier League season in US
The 2023/24 Premier League season was kind to NBC, which broke several records during the most-watched season in the league’s US history. That included the most-watched game in Premier League history for US audiences. Additionally, six of the seven most-viewed games in Premier League history happened during this season.
That stretched throughout the campaign all the way to the final day. NBC is reporting that its coverage of “Championship Sunday” averaged 3 million viewers across its platforms. By platforms, NBC is alluding to the four channels that broadcasted games in English, two more in Spanish and the array of audiences across Peacock, which had coverage of every game on Sunday.
Average match window viewership was up 4% from last season to set a record. NBC Sports averaged a Total Audience Delivery, or TAD, of 546,000. This means that every match window, such as 10 a.m. on a Saturday or 3 p.m. on a Monday, averaged almost 550,000 viewers. The previous record occurred during the 2015/16 campaign when the TAD for NBC’s platforms and channels was 541,000.
The difference in 2023/24 was perhaps Peacock. This was the fourth full season when NBC put games on Peacock, including many exclusive contests. Two games exclusive to Peacock held an Average Minute Audience, or AMA, of over 1 million people. Those were Arsenal against Liverpool in early February and March’s Manchester Derby. In total, Peacock pulled in 28% more minutes streamed this season than it did in 2022/23.
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New media outlets drive record Premier League season for NBC
While Peacock is a driving force for live broadcasts of games, NBC’s coverage extends well beyond the fixtures. NBC had record fan attendance during the Premier League Fan Fest in Nashville during April’s celebrations. NBC Sports Soccer’s social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter saw video views jump 122% while engagement rose 79%. Finally, NBC totaled 200 million video views on its content on YouTube.
Regardless, the thing most fans care about is how many people watch live games. As stated, six of the seven most-watched games in Premier League history happened during the 2023/24 season. Manchester City’s draw against Arsenal, a game that ultimately proved pivotal in deciding this season’s title, became the most-watched game for the Premier League in American history. Across NBC’s English- and Spanish-language platforms, 2.12 million people watched. Liverpool-Arsenal, Liverpool-Manchester United, Newcastle-Manchester City and Manchester City-Chelsea also cleared 1.5 million viewers for individual games across NBC’s platforms.
Those games had various outlets to pull fans from, but NBC made a conscious effort to make more games exclusive to Peacock. That did not affect viewership as much as some would expect. NBC still had eight games exclusive to Peacock averaging 800,000 viewers. That is four times as many as last season for the streaming platform.
Positive signs for NBC’s future
NBC is about to enter the third of a six-year deal it signed with the Premier League to be the league’s broadcast home in the United States. Given the success in the 2023/24 season, NBC is making good on its investment. With the title race a driving force for the league’s popularity in 2023/24, NBC will want to see increased title competition and drama in the races for the top four in the next four years.
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