Fox Soccer Channel Does Well With UEFA Champions League, FA Cup Final & English Premier League

With Fox Soccer Channel dependent on English soccer packages, it finds its ratings going up. Thanks to carrying games from the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and the FA Cup, FSC saw a ratings gain from the previous year which was the first in which the channel was measured by Nielsen.

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FOX SOCCER CHANNEL DELIVERS RATINGS SURGE WITH KEY EUROPEAN PROPERTIES

FA Cup Final Scores for Fox Soccer Channel

Los Angeles, CA (May 19, 2010) – Fox Soccer Channel scored impressive ratings gains for its FA Cup Final telecast on Saturday, May 15, according to figures released by Nielsen Media Research. The year-to-year improvement is consistent with the networks’ continued growth across key demographics as a direct result of the first year of UEFA Champions League telecasts and second year increases for the prestigious Barclays Premier League.

Last Saturday’s performance of the FA Cup Final – in which Chelsea repeated as champion and secured its first-ever domestic “double” with a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth – notched significant gains across the board in viewers compared to the 2009 Final. Household coverage area ratings (CAR) are +67% on households (HH) overall (0.5 vs. 0.3), while M18-34 CAR increased +50% (0.3 vs. 0.2) and M25-54 (CAR) grew 25% (0.5 vs. 0.4).

Fox Soccer Channel continues to experience steady and remarkable growth in viewership since becoming a Nielsen rated network in October of 2008, boosted by its status as the primary U.S. television home for the UEFA Champions League. UEFA Champions League matches which air in the 2:30-5 p.m. time period, delivered significant ratings growth across all demos from October ’08-May ’09, particularly with key M18-34 and M18-49 demos skyrocketing to 975% and 957%, respectively. P2+ viewing posted a 675% increase. On April 28^th the UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Inter Milan set a M18-34 ratings record for FSC with a 1.2 coverage area rating.  

Fox Soccer Channel also posted considerable growth during the past year with England’s Barclays Premier League as the total viewer average for matches in October 2009-May 2010 period increased 68% compared to the average for matches from October 2008-May 2009 (FSC was not measured prior to October 2008). The February 7 showdown between rivals Chelsea and Arsenal drew the network’s record-high audience of 403,000 P2+ and earned a 0.7 HH coverage area rating.

This past April, Fox Soccer Channel registered a 71% Q1 increase in the network’s primetime audience, a 65% increase in weekend audience and an 89% rise in total-day audience. These increases were tops among Nielsen-rated cable sports nets in Q1. Nielsen also cited Fox Soccer Channel as the cable sports network with the highest concentration of M18-49 among English-speaking audiences in the U.S according to Nielsen data.  

Source:  Nielsen Media Research, dates as above, qualifications furnished upon request

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