Ratings Roundup: 105th Indianapolis 500 Delivers Highest Viewership in Five Years; CBS Sports Sees Most-Watched UEFA Champions League Final Since 2016

04/06/2021

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

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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

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