FOX Sports has leapt ahead of Telemundo in generating more TV viewers for World Cup games on English-language television compared to Spanish-language TV for the first 11 match days.
The World Cup games on FOX and FS1 are averaging 2,208,563 viewers, while Telemundo’s average is 2,048,063. Compared to the first five match days of Russia 2018, the viewing average for FOX Sports has increased from 2.1 million to 2.28 million but Telemundo’s average has decreased (from 2,192,083 for match day one through five) to the current 2.0 million.
To date, World Cup games are averaging 4.2 million viewers per game across Telemundo and FOX Sports combined.
The reason behind the boost for FOX Sports is the increased number of games televised live via the over-the-air FOX network, which is in 116 million homes. Through match day 11, FOX Sports has had 18 games shown on the big FOX network. FOX Sports will also be boosted by six World Cup Round of 16 matches being featured on the FOX network between Saturday and Monday this weekend.
In comparison, Telemundo is in 65 million homes, which is far fewer than even FS1 (which is in 84 million homes). Plus Telemundo/Universo has been netting 46% of average per match World Cup viewership (through Tuesday) even though just 18% of the U.S. population is Hispanic.
With Mexico advancing to the Round of 16, Telemundo may be able to close the gap with FOX Sports given the popularity of El Tri in the United States. Likewise, the games featuring Colombia, Argentina, England and Portugal will feature impressive TV ratings from the significant number of Americans who are either from those countries or have ancestry from those nations.
Here are the TV ratings for the World Cup through match day 11:
DATE & KICKOFF TIME | GAME | TELEMUNDO | FOX SPORTS | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Thurs., June 14; 11am ET | Russia-Saudi Arabia | 1,370,000 | 1,494,000 | 2,864,000 |
Fri., June 15, 8am ET | Egypt-Uruguay | 1190000 | 903,000 | 2093000 |
Fri., June 15, 11am ET | Morocco-Iran | 949000 | 1,695,000 | 2644000 |
Fri., June 15, 2pm ET | Portugal-Spain | 1840000 | 2,924,000 | 4764000 |
Sat., June 16, 6am ET | France-Australia | 490000 | 796000 | 1286000 |
Sat., June 16, 9am ET | Argentina-Iceland | 2210000 | 2,973,000 | 5183000 |
Sat., June 16, Noon ET | Peru-Denmark | 2450000 | 2001000 | 4451000 |
Sat., June 16, 3pm ET | Croatia-Nigeria | 1930000 | 2178000 | 4108000 |
Sun., June 17, 8am ET | Costa Rica-Serbia | 1660000 | 1826000 | 1660000 |
Sun., June 17, 11am ET | Mexico-Germany | 7120000 | 4,002,000 | 11122000 |
Sun., June 17, 2pm ET | Brazil-Switzerland | 4350000 | 4,086,000 | 8436000 |
Mon., June 18, 8am ET | Korea-Sweden | 746,000 | 750000 | 1,496,000 |
Mon. June 18, 11am ET | Belgium-Panama | 1600000 | 1364000 | 2964000 |
Mon., June 18, 2pm ET | England-Tunisia | 1430000 | 1931000 | 3361000 |
Tues., June 19, 8am ET | Colombia-Japan | 1520000 | 953000 | 2473000 |
Tues., June 19, 11am ET | Poland-Senegal | 1200000 | 1647000 | 2847000 |
Tues., June 19, 2pm ET | Russia-Egypt | 1260000 | 1957000 | 3217000 |
Weds., June 20, 8am ET | Portugal-Morocco | 1270000 | 1082000 | 2352000 |
Weds., June 20, 11am ET | Uruguay-Saudi Arabia | 1390000 | 1560000 | 2950000 |
Weds., June 20, 2pm ET | Iran-Spain | 1630000 | 2240000 | 3870000 |
Thurs., June 21, 8am ET | Denmark-Australia | 913000 | 854,000 | 1767000 |
Thurs., June 21, 11am ET | Peru-France | 1950000 | 1930000 | 3880000 |
Thurs., June 21, 2pm ET | Argentina-Croatia | 2030000 | 2560000 | 4590000 |
Fri., June 22, 8am ET | Brazil-Costa Rica | 1560000 | 1215000 | 2775000 |
Fri., June 22, 11am ET | Nigeria-Iceland | 1340000 | 2240000 | 3580000 |
Fri., June 22, 2pm ET | Serbia-Switzerland | 1410000 | 2310000 | 3720000 |
Sat., June 23, 8am ET | Belgium-Tunisia | 1270000 | 1861000 | 3131000 |
Sat., June 23, 11am ET | Korea-Mexico | 6600000 | 4433000 | 11033000 |
Sat., June 23, 2pm ET | Germany-Sweden | 3430000 | 5397000 | 8827000 |
Sun., June 24, 8am ET | England-Panama | 1510000 | 1623000 | 3133000 |
Sun., June 24, 11am ET | Japan-Senegal | 2380000 | 3505000 | 5885000 |
Sun., June 24, 2pm ET | Poland-Colombia | 3540000 | 4384000 | 7924000 |
TOTAL VIEWERS | 65,538,000 | 70,674,000 | 134,386,000 | |
AVG. VIEWERS PER GAME | 2,048,063 | 2,208,563 | 4,199,563 |
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