By: Kristian Hernandez
Univision Deportes closed out the Torneo Clausura with a flourish as the two-match Gran Final featuring Tigres UANL and Club León averaged 1.90 million Total Viewers 2+ and 976,000 Adults 18-49, and delivered the two-most watched soccer telecasts of the year on any network, regardless of language.
Airing on Univision and Univision Deportes Network (UDN), the Gran Final was highlighted by the second and decisive leg, which crowned Tigres UANL the Mexican Champion for Tornea Clausura 2019. Telecast on May 26, the contest reached 5.2 million Total Viewers 2+, who tuned in for all or part of the match, and averaged 1.97 million Total Viewers 2+ and 989,000 Adults 18-49, becoming the top-rated soccer match on any network for the current year. Meanwhile, in local markets, the match was the No. 1 broadcast in the time period in Houston, Dallas, and Chicago among Adults 18-49, and finished second in the time period in both Los Angeles and Miami, ahead of ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and The CW among Adults 18-49.
The first leg, airing May 23, reached 5 million Total Viewers 2+, who tuned in for all or part of the contest. The thrilling 1-0 result in favor of Tigres, averaged 1.84 million Total Viewers 2+ and 961,000 Adults 18-49. The performance at the time made it the most-watched soccer match of 2019 before being overtaken by Sunday’s telecast. In Houston and Sacramento, it was the No. 1 broadcast among Adults 18-49, while the telecast surpassed ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and The CW with Adults 18-49 in Los Angeles to finish second in the market during the time period.
Also on Univision Deportes, nearly 22.2 million Total Viewers 2+ tuned in to all or part of its 91 UEFA Champions League (UCL) telecasts, making it the most-watched season on any network or in any language during Univision Deporte’s inaugural season as the exclusive Spanish-language television partner. In total, Univision delivered 60% of the UCL television audience in the U.S. The performance marks the first time since 2013-14 that the league’s Spanish-language telecasts attracted a higher audience share than English-language.
For the season, matches airing on Univision and simulcast on Univision Deportes Network (UDN) averaged 631,000 Total Viewers 2+ and 314,000 Adults 18-49. Meanwhile, across the Univision Deportes linear portfolio – including Univision, UniMás, Univision Deportes Network (UDN) and Galavisión – UCL contests generated an average of 231,000 Total Viewers 2+ and 120,000 Adults 18-49. This season’s matches out-delivered the previous season’s Spanish-language telecasts by +32% among Total Viewers 2+ and +9% with Adults 18-49.
Univision Deportes’ telecast of the UEFA Champions League Final featuring Tottenham-Liverpool delivered the largest final audience in Spanish-language since 2015. The June 1 match, simulcast on UDN, reached nearly 4.0 million Total Viewers 2+ during the broadcast, and averaged 1.4 million Total Viewers and 732,000 Adults 18-49. Compared to last year’s telecast on ESPN Deportes, Univision Deportes saw double-digit increases among Total Viewers 2+ (+34% advantage) and Adults 18-49 (+14% advantage).
Univision Deportes shattered viewership records during the UEFA Champions League Semifinals, attracting the largest audience ever for a UCL semifinal round, regardless of television network or language. Airing from April 30 – May 8, the four matches broadcast on Univision/UDN averaged 705,000 Total Viewers 2+, and delivered the two most-watched UCL semifinal contests ever on television, topped by Liverpool-Barcelona on May 7 at nearly 800,000 Total Viewers 2+.
Souce: Sports Video Group
