Ratings Roundup: 105th Indianapolis 500 Delivers Highest Viewership in Five Years; CBS Sports Sees Most-Watched UEFA Champions League Final Since 2016 By SVG Staff
Friday, June 4, 2021 - 7:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Ratings roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, the 105th Indianapolis 500 delivers highest viewership in five years, CBS Sports delivers strong numbers for UEFA Champions League Final, and more.
Sunday's Indianapolis 500 Delivers Highest Viewership in Five Years Sunday's 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge ranks as the most-watched Indy 500 in five years averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 5.581 million viewers on NBC up 51% vs. last year (3.692 million), which was run on Aug. 23 due to the pandemic; and up 2% from NBC's inaugural broadcast of the race in 2019 (5.489 million).
The Greatest Spectacle in Racing (12:48-3:57 pm ET) peaked at 7.129 million TV-only viewers from 3:15-3:30 p.m. ET as Helio Castroneves outdueled Alex Palou in the final laps to win his record-tying fourth Indy 500. The race finished with a 3.15 household rating.
Additional viewership highlights for this year's Indy 500:
Is NBC Sports' most-watched IndyCar race to date.
Ranks as the most-watched sports event of the weekend across all networks.
Stands as NBC's most-watched Sunday afternoon sports event in 16 months, since a Seattle-Philadelphia NFL Wild Card matchup with on Jan. 5, 2020 (36.0 million TAD).
Across NBC Sports streaming platforms, this year's race ranks as the second most-streamed IndyCar race ever with an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 34,500 viewers, behind only the 2019 Indy 500 (45,600).
Through the first six races of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES on NBC, NBCSN, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are averaging a TAD of 1.926 million viewers, the best six-race start to a season in four years (2.046 million; 4 ABC, 2 NBCSN) and up 28% vs. last season's comparable races (1.504 million viewers). (NBC Sports)
CBS Sports and Paramount Deliver Strong Performance Across Multiple Platforms for UEFA Champions League Final CBS Sports' coverage of the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final averaged 2.095 million viewers according to Nielsen national ratings, the most-watched UEFA Champions League Final in six years for English-language coverage in the U.S. It also marks the second-best English-language audience for the Final in the past 10 years.
Chelsea's 1-0 victory over Manchester City generated a viewership increase of 39% versus the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final (Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur, June 1, 2019), the last time the Final was played in May/June. Viewership for Saturday's match peaked at 2.553 million viewers from 4:45 to 5:00 PM, ET.
Paramount registered record viewership as the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final is its most live-streamed non-NFL sporting event ever. UEFA was also a significant subscription acquisition driver for Paramount in April and May. Paramount , a leading destination for U.S. soccer fans, features more than 1,600 live matches each year across an extensive portfolio of soccer properties, including every UEFA men's club competition match. (ViacomCBS)
NBC Sports Completes Most Extensive and Comprehensive Premier League Presentation Ever in U.S. NBC Sports' presentation of the 2020-21 Premier League season was its most extensive and comprehensive ever - featuring 340 match windows and 914 hours of live match and studio coverage on the networks of NBCUniversal and Peacock.
The five Championship Sunday matches on television registered a combined Total Audience Delivery of 1.4 million viewers (does not include the 10 matches streamed on Peacock). Premier League matches on NBC, featuring Sunday's Liverpool-Crystal Palace match on Sunday in which the Reds secured a Champions League berth, averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 879,000 viewers this season - up 2% from last season.
In addition, eight NBC and NBCSN matches averaged a TAD of at least 1 million viewers - tying for the most audiences of 1 million in five years, since the 2015-16 season.
NBC Sports Group averaged a Total Audience Delivery of 414,000 viewers per match window for the 2020-21 season (does not include Peacock streaming or Spanish-language telecasts).
Premier League Viewership Highlights
NBC Sports posted its most-watched Boxing Day (Dec. 26, 2020) ever with a Total Audience Delivery average of 664,000 viewers for four matches across NBC and NBCSN.
NBC's 12:30 p.m. ET Arsenal-Chelsea match was the most-watched Boxing Day match ever with a TAD of 1.2 million viewers.
NBCSN registered a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.06 million viewers for the Feb. 7 Liverpool-Manchester City match - ranking as the second-most watched Premier League cable match ever in U.S. TV history (Manchester Derby, 1.16 million viewers on Apr. 12, 2015 on NBCSN).
In 2021, NBCSN delivered the two most-watched February cable matches in the history of the Premier League on U.S. TV: Liverpool-Manchester City on Feb. 7 (1.06 million viewers) and Chelsea-Manchester United on Feb. 28 (828,000 viewers).
The Dec. 12, 2020 Manchester Derby posted a Total Audience Delivery average of 1.2 million viewers across NBC, Telemundo and NBC Sports Digital, ranking as the second-most watched fall Manchester Derby on record in the U.S.
More than 1 billion minutes of NBC Sports' Premier League coverage was consumed on the NBC Sports YouTube channel- a single-season record.
The seven most-engaged posts (and eight of the top 10) in @NBCSportsSoccer Instagram history came during the 2020-21 season.
The 2 Robbies and Premier League on NBC podcasts delivered a season-record 127 episod
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
20/11/2025
LONDON The winners of the Rise Awards 2025, which recognize women and companies whose achievements have stood out in the media technology industry, have been an...
20/11/2025
SANTA MONICA & NEW YORK Lionsgate's Worldwide Television Distribution Group and Debmar-Mercury have launched MovieSphere Gold in more than 30 million homes....
20/11/2025
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has introduced its four-channel HelixNet beltpack, a next-generation advancement of its widely used two-channel model, and anticipates...
20/11/2025
NEW PROVIDENCE, N.J. Streaming technology and services provider Kiswe has launched Kiswe Core, a next-generation cloud-based platform designed to simplify the s...
20/11/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. Dolby Laboratories has signed on as an official signature partner of the Bay Area Host Committee (BAHC) for the 2026 Super Bowl and the we...
20/11/2025
STUTTGART, Germany 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) has announced that the Canadian multiservice operator Telus has launched its Telus TV+ entertainment platform on Sam...
20/11/2025
Major League Baseball has announced deals with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix covering 2026-2028 that make ESPN the exclusive rightsholder of MLB.TV, see regula...
20/11/2025
Berklee Presents Holiday Extravaganza: Duke Ellingtons The Nutcracker Suite and ...
19/11/2025
Sphere Sound Kicks Up Its Heels at Radio City Music HallUltra-immersive system from the singular Las Vegas venue is also ready for sportsBy Dan Daley, Audio Edi...
19/11/2025
The Future of Stadium and Arena Video Control Rooms: Tech Leaders Talk 4K, IP, a...
19/11/2025
One Year at Intuit Dome: Walking Through the Stunning Arena's Advanced Video...
19/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: IMG's Francois Westcombe Goes Inside IMG's Annual Digital ...
19/11/2025
Inside Brighton & Hove Albion's fan-first media machine By George Bevir
Tuesday, November 18, 2025 - 10:10
Print This Story
Brighton & Hove Albion'...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 1: Kansas Athletics Brings New Production Power to Rebu...
19/11/2025
Rock Chalk Rebuild, Part 2: A Pro's Guide to Kansas Athletics' New Video...
19/11/2025
MLB Media Rights Shakeup: NBC Inks Three-Year Deal for Sunday Night Baseball, Pe...
19/11/2025
Rohan Parashuram Kanawade attends the premiere of Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival at Egyptian Theatre on January 26, 2025, in Pa...
19/11/2025
Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just ...
19/11/2025
Aerojet Rocketdyne President Ken Bedingfield and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were joined by state and local officials to celebrate the groundbreaking o...
19/11/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
19/11/2025
Calrec gives Phoenix Broadcast Solutions its full support in strategic multi-year enterprise partnership New Singapore OB company invests in Calrec technology f...
19/11/2025
October brings a larger audience in front of TV screens. The cooler autumn weather and the continuation of new programming schedules brought increases in both t...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Vitec has acquired Datapath, a developer of real-time video processing for large-scale video walls, AVoIP content distribution and KVM control in mission-critic...
19/11/2025
NEVADA CITY, Calif. Telestream has introduced ARGUS Version 2.3, which introduces Live Look, a feature that lets operators inspect live and on-demand streams vi...
19/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK Charter Communications, Inc. has announced a major deal with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that establishes AWS as one of Charters stra...
19/11/2025
TOKYO Atomos has announced a major firmware update that brings integrated camera control to the Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX its new CFexpress-based monitor-recor...
19/11/2025
Berklee's Signature Series Reimagines the Musical and Visual Artistry of Col...
19/11/2025
PlayBox Neo departed the NAB Show New York 2025 on a high note. The company's all-new PlayBox Neo Suite made a splash on the show floor, drawing strong inte...
19/11/2025
AAVBR (American Audio Visual Baton Rouge), a leading full-service event production company serving Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region, has enhanced its product...
19/11/2025
In its mission to deliver live event services combining advanced engineering with a creative approach to captivating live sports and entertainment experiences, ...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK Short-form vertical video has exploded across platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, but a new survey commissioned by Media.net, a provider of c...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK YES Network, the regional sports network home of the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets, and CAMB.AI have struck a partnership they said will leverage ...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has issued detailed guidance on filings that were disrupted by the government shutdown. While many of those fil...
19/11/2025
NEW YORK The popularity of NFL games is largely responsible for continued seasonal momentum in TV viewership into October (measured Sept. 29-Oct. 26), according...
19/11/2025
DirecTV has announced that its MyFree DirecTV streaming service has added seven new channels. Those include four sports services, NBA FAST, Red Bull TV, DAZN Ri...
19/11/2025
SURREY, U.K. Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has launched Flair Bridge, a compact device that transforms how operators control the company's motion-contr...
19/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission, which is continuing to rapidly ramp up its operations after the end of the federal government shutdown, has se...
19/11/2025
IRVING, Texas Nexstar Media Group and Tegna filed applications on Nov. 18 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeking its consent to transfer broad...
19/11/2025
Martin Freeman, Jessie Buckley, Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Eddie the Eagle and ...
19/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz collaborates with Broadcom to enable testing and validation of n...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Innato, starring Imanol Arias and Elena Anaya, arrives on Netf...
19/11/2025
Back to All News
Guillermo del Toro Sits Down With Troll 2 Director Roar Uthaug...
19/11/2025
Some projects feel monumental from the moment the first phone call comes in. When BCE, the host broadcaster appointed to coordinate the national coverage, asked...
19/11/2025
November 19 2025, 08:00 (PST) BAY AREA HOST COMMITTEE AND DOLBY PARTNER TO DELIVER IMMERSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES
During the Week of Football's Biggest Game...
19/11/2025
Michael D. Higgins: Ireland's Ninth President features RT Archives footage and interviews across seven decades
Watch Wednesday 19 November at 9:35pm on RT...
19/11/2025
Scripps Research scientists receive $1.1 million to advance AI modeling for HIV vaccine development New AI system helps scientists rapidly pinpoint the most pro...
18/11/2025
Independent media across Central America are operating under intensifying financial pressure, yet there is a clear appetite for models that can sustain both ind...
Ratings Roundup: 105th Indianapolis 500 Delivers Highest Viewership in Five Years; CBS Sports Sees Most-Watched UEFA Champions League Final Since 2016 By SVG Staff 
