Manchester Derby Showdown Sets Premier League U.S. Cable TV Viewership Record
Most-watched EPL match on ESPN Deportes
Monday’s Manchester derby, a 1-0 home win for Manchester City over Manchester United in a 2011-2012 Premier League showdown, was seen on ESPN by an average of 1.033 million viewers (832,000 television homes), based on a 0.8 rating, making it the most-watched Premiership telecast on U.S. cable television, according to Nielsen.
The Manchester derby telecast out-delivered the previous high, an ESPN2 telecast of Arsenal vs. Chelsea, seen by an average of 610,000 viewers on Monday, Dec. 27, 2010
The five most-viewed Premiership matches on U.S. cable TV:
| Date | Matchup | Viewers – P2+ | Network |
| Mon, April 30, 2012 | Manchester City vs. Manchester United | 1,033,000 | ESPN |
| Mon., Dec. 27, 2010 | Chelsea vs. Arsenal | 610,000 | ESPN2 |
| Sat., Feb. 11, 2012 | Liverpool vs. Manchester United | 588,000 | ESPN2 |
| Sun., Feb. 6, 2011 | Liverpool vs. Chelsea | 579,000 | FOX Soccer |
| Mon., Dec. 13, 2010 | Arsenal vs. Manchester United | 570,000 | ESPN2 |
Additionally, Monday’s Manchester City vs. Manchester United match was the most-viewed Premier League telecast on ESPN Deportes, the Spanish-language sports network which began featuring EPL matches in August 2010. The match earned a 4.0 Hispanic coverage rating, representing 205,000 Hispanic households (273,000 Hispanic viewers, P2+). The previous high on ESPN Deportes delivered a 2.5 Hispanic coverage rating, 127,000 households, (183,000 Hispanic viewers) for Blackburn vs. Man United on April 2, 2012.
ESPN3 and WatchESPN
On ESPN3 and WatchESPN, an average minute audience of nearly 87,200 people watched the Manchester derby via computers, smartphones, tablets and Xbox, and logging a total of 13.1 million minutes across platforms.
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