/ 06.14.2010 12:00AM
ABC Scores Solid Rating for U.S.-England World Cup Match
NEW YORK: ABC logged a 7.3 rating for the World Cup
soccer match between the United Stations and England on Saturday, a two-hour
affair introducing millions of Americans to the melodious instrument known as
the “vuvuzela.”
The game ended in a 1-1 draw having attracted around 13 million U.S. viewers for
ABC, making it the network’s fifth most-watched soccer game. Around 3.8 million
watched Univision’s Spanish-language broadcast, according to mainstream media
outlets notified by the networks.
San Diego, Calif., was the top U.S. market for the English-language broadcast,
with an 11.5 Nielsen household rating. The city also had the most viewers in
the United States for the entire 2006 World Cup series. San Francisco was next,
followed by Las Vegas, Cincinnati and Salt Lake City.
The Friday match between Mexico and South Africa drew about 5.4 million viewers
to Univision and 2.9 million to ESPN, The
Wall Street Journal said. The first five matches averaged around 8.1
million viewers for English- and Spanish-language broadcasts combined, up from
4.5 million in 2006. WSJ noted that
the numbers don’t include out-of-home viewing, which likely was substantial
given the popularity of major sporting events at public houses.
In the United Kingdom, the Mexico-South African match drew 4.3 million viewers
on ITV, The
Guardian said. The network’s coverage of the U.S.-England match wasn’t
mentioned. EPLTalk,
a site covering the English Premiere League, said IPTV goofed and ran a promo just as England made its only
goal. (EPLTalk has a video clip of
the coverage.)
The World Cup matches will continue through July 11, likely with constant
accompaniment from the plastic, single-note droning horns. Discovery News
probes the technical annoyance factor of the vuvuzela.
-- Deborah D. McAdams, (Image by South AfricanTourism)