NBC scores record 917k viewers for Everton vs Chelsea match

NBC Sports achieved their largest viewing audience ever for a Premier League match last weekend when 917,000 people watched the September 14 12:30-3pm ET broadcast of Everton versus Chelsea live on the over-the-air NBC network, according to Sports Business Daily.

The 917,000 viewing figure beat the number of viewers who tuned in for the opening Premier League match on free-to-air NBC on August 17 when Swansea played Manchester United (with an average viewing audience of 792,000). Plus, the Chelsea-Everton viewing audience figure is the fourth highest ever for a Premier League match on US television. The record is 1.67million who watched the game shown on tape delay between Liverpool and Chelsea in 2011.

In contrast, 536,000 people watched the August 26 broadcast of Manchester United against Chelsea (live on NBC Sports Network on a Monday afternoon, beginning at 3pm ET). More stats regarding the opening weekend of Premier League viewing audiences can be found here.

The next game scheduled to be shown on the free-to-air NBC network is September 28 when Arsenal travel to Swansea. This weekend, meanwhile, the 12:30pm ET game will be shown on NBC Sports Network (view the TV schedule here).

The viewing figure for the Everton against Chelsea game is very impressive, and shows that interest is growing in the sport, league and NBC coverage. It’s also testament to the hard work and focus on attention to detail that NBC Sports has been striving to achieve.

Here’s our video showing a behind-the-scenes tour of NBC’s studios in Stamford, CT, on a recent Premier League Saturday: