Ratings Roundup: Gold Cup Scores for Fox Soccer; U.S. Open Bombs Out on NBC

The CONCACAF Gold Cup pulled in more than just Spanish-speaking viewers last Saturday, as Fox Soccer’s English coverage drew the largest audience in network history. Saturday’s Mexico-United States Gold Cup final drew a 1.43 household rating and 954,000 viewers on FOX Soccer, up 159% from the 2009 final, which featured the same two teams (369,000). The audience was more than double the previous record set by a Chelsea vs. Liverpool match in February.

However, Fox Soccer lagged significantly behind Univision, which drew the third largest audience in network history for a soccer match (trailing 2010 World Cup Final and Mexico-Argentina Round of 16 match). Overall, the Gold Cup final drew approximately 8.9 million viewers, up over 50% from 2009 (appx. 5.8M)…

…The NHL Draft drew record numbers both North and South of the border. Versus drew 246,000 viewers for the prime time telecast on Friday night, up 22% from last year’s Draft (201,000 viewers). In Canada, TSN and RDS averaged a combined 1.5 million viewers, according to overnights. TSN’s audience of 1.15 million grew 46% compared to 2010 numbers, with RDS up 24%…

…The final numbers are in and the U.S. Open was officially a bomb for NBC this year. As previously reported, the final round was the lowest-rated Sunday ever, but the three preceding rounds were no better. Third round action earned a 3.1 rating and 4.574 million viewers, the lowest rated Saturday U.S. Open window since at least 1981 (ratings prior to 1982 were not available), and the least-viewed since 2006 (4.354 millino). The second round drew a 1.4 and 1.832 million viewers, the lowest since at least 1997 (numbers prior to 1998 were not available). Finally, first round coverage drew a 1.4 and 1.825 million, the second-lowest since at least 1997 (numbers prior to 1998 were not available).