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Man City-Man United derby delivers 1.7 million viewers

by Christopher Harris

Saturday’s derby between Manchester City and Manchester United was the most-watched Premier League game ever in US television history after 1.72 million people tuned in to watch one of the games of the season.

NBC delivered 1.35 million viewers, while 309,000 soccer fans tuned in to watch the game on Telemundo to combine for an average of 1.72 million viewers across all platforms (also including the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com). With the record number, NBC Sports has now televised the 10 most-watched live Premier League telecasts in US history. The live notation is important because a Liverpool-Chelsea game on FOX in 2011 delivered 1.64 million viewers (albeit on tape delay when it was shown next to a Sunday NFL broadcast).

The match also ranks as NBC Sports Digital’s second-most streamed Premier League match with 167,000 unique devices, beaten by Liverpool vs. Manchester United from October 2016 when it featured 200,000 unique devices.

Compared to last season, online viewership of the Premier League is up 39% on total unique devices (3.6 million) and up 7% based on live minutes watched (654 million so far this season).

Saturday’s City-United derby was shown live on the over-the-air NBC network and Telemundo from 12:30-2:30pm ET. Manchester United upset City 3-2, thus denying Manchester City the chance to win the 2017/18 Premier League title.

SEE MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

As of press time, the 1.72 million viewing number is the most-watched club soccer game on US television for the month of April to date, even beating Liga MX viewing numbers on Univision.

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