Telemundo delivers record-breaking FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2023

Telemundo wraps up its exclusive Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 with historic milestone wins across all platforms. Team USA led the success of the tournament, posting record-breaking viewership during the Group Stage, up 57% vs. 2019 held in France, highlighted by USA-Netherlands as the most-watched Group Stage Women’s World Cup match and second highest TAD ever in Spanish-language television history (only behind 2019 Final) with 1.5 million viewers. The game delivered the highest Women’s World Cup Average Minute Audience (AMA) on digital in Spanish-language history with 244,000.

“We are incredibly proud of our team’s extraordinary coverage and NBCUniversal’s commitment and support of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, a ‘first’ across two countries and multiple time zones,” said Beau Ferrari, Chairman, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “Telemundo’s coverage across our network, stations and Peacock, made history once again, delivering record-breaking results as the preferred destination for Spanish-language world-class sports.”

The 30-day tournament across countries and time zones concluded with a much-anticipated final match, featuring a historic performance by La Roja finishing with a 1-0 victory by Spain over England delivering a TAD of 401,000 viewers making it the most watched non-prime match of the tournament on Spanish TV, up 123% vs. the Semifinals.

“Telemundo’s coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup surpassed all expectations across all platforms, a tangible reflection of the growth of women’s soccer in America,” said Eli Velazquez, Executive Vice President of Sports, Telemundo. “We are proud of the Telemundo Deportes team for successfully delivering the most ambitious coverage ever in Spanish-language media of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and validating our editorial vision to continue to develop our diverse talent roster and further elevate our production standards.”

• TOTAL AUDIENCE DELIVERY
• The Women’s World Cup averaged a TAD of 167,000 viewers across Telemundo, Universo, Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms.
• Due to Australia and New Zealand’s unfavorable time zones, linear ratings declined in line with expectations compared to France 2019 – offset by unprecedented viewership on Peacock. When compared to China 2007 played in similar windows, the audience is up +18% (vs. 141,000).
• On linear, Telemundo’s dominance was solidified, now owning the top ten Women’s World Cup matches in Spanish-language television history among total viewers (P2+).
• Overall, 2023 ranks as the most-watched Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals round in Spanish-language television history with a TAD of 408,000, up 23% vs. France 2019 quarterfinal round (331,000).
• Additionally, the 2023 Quarterfinals round grew +116% vs. Round of 16 (189,000).
• Telemundo’s coverage posted three (3) matches with approximately 1.0 million viewers or more vs. two (2) matches in 2019.
• The top three (3) teams in terms of viewership across the entire tournament were: USA (averaging 715K viewers TAD); Netherlands (658K); and Vietnam (372K).
• Re-airs of key games delivered impressive results on linear, further indicating audience demand for Women’s World Cup content.
• The Sunday, Aug. 6 re-air of USA vs. Sweden Round of 16 match at 11:05 a.m. ET averaged 439K P2+, 2.5X higher than the live game delivery (177,000).
• The replay of England vs. Colombia Quarterfinal match on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 1:30 p.m. delivered 340,000 P2+, +50% higher than the live broadcast on the same day at 6:04 a.m. ET.

Team USA Highlights

• The USA v. Netherlands match on Wednesday, July 26, was the most-watched Group Stage Women’s World Cup match and 2nd highest TAD ever in Spanish-language television history (only behind 2019 Final) with 1.5 million viewers and the highest Women’s World Cup AMA on digital in Spanish-language history with 244,000.
• The USA group stage TAD showed a remarkable +57% increase vs. 2019 (911,000 vs. 579,000) ranking as the highest USA Group Stage average in Spanish-language television history.
• Overall, the first four games of USA performed +15% better than in France 2019.
• Other Team Highlights
• Colombia and Spain rewrite FIFA Women’s World Cup history as the first Spanish-speaking countries to reach the Quarterfinals and fueled Telemundo to deliver record-breaking results.
• Spain v. England Final on Sun., Aug. 20, was the most-watched non-prime match of the tournament in Spanish with a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 401,000 viewers and grew +123% vs. the Semifinal round (180,000). The Final delivered an AMA of 82,000.
• Spain vs. Netherlands with a TAD of 968,000 is the most-watched non-USA match in Women’s World Cup history on SLTV up +205% vs. Netherlands quarterfinal match in 2019 (318,000) and the highest non-USA AMA of the tournament with 108,000.
• England vs. Colombia quarterfinal ranks as the second most-watched non-prime match of the 2023 tournament on Spanish-language television with a TAD of 302,000 and is up +129% vs. England’s 2019 quarterfinal match vs. Norway (132,000).
• In the Group stage, Argentina vs. South Africa on Jul. 27 (357,000 TAD) and Colombia vs. South Korea on Jul. 24 (312,000 TAD) were the most-watched sporting events exclusively aired on Spanish cable for the duration of the tournament.

Following are consumption highlights for the complete tournament, which concluded Sunday (Sun., Aug. 20):

STREAMING AND DIGITAL

• Fueled by Peacock, the 2023 Women’s World Cup generated 395 million total minutes across Telemundo, Universo, and Peacock’s streaming platforms, up 12Xs vs France 2019.
• USA vs. Netherland’s record-breaking match generated 20.1 million minutes watched and ranks as the most streamed Women’s World Cup match in Spanish-language television history.
• The match delivered 6X more minutes than France’s 2019 England vs USA match (3.3M).
• The Women’s World Cup 24/7 virtual channel generated a total of 414,000 hours of consumption throughout the 32 Day tournament.

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Telemundo-owned social accounts reached 874,000 actions (+155% vs. 2019) and 26.4 million video views (+403%) across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok throughout Australia & New Zealand 2023.
• Instagram was the largest driver of engagement for Women’s World Cup content, reaching 445,000 million actions (51% of total) while TikTok garnered the most social views with 14.2 million views (54% of total).
• Top post by actions was published on Telemundo Deportes TikTok account and featured included the final moments of the World Cup Final with a video on top that included the announcers, and the bottom was action from the final moments (70K actions).
• Top post by views was published on Telemundo Main Instagram REEL featuring @carlotavizmanos celebrating with the crowd Spain reaching the final (1.7M views).

MY NEW FAVORITE FUTBOLISTA

• Telemundo and NBC owned stations’ award-winning bilingual, multiplatform podcast profiling stars of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, My New Favorite Futbolista, earned considerable growth and several highlights during the tournament. The 10-part series, produced in partnership with Telemundo Deportes, features a pair of soccer stars – Janelly Farías and Meghan Klingenberg – as co-hosts alongside Eric Alvarez. The season, its fourth, launched June 14 and debuted new audio and video episodes through the start of the tournament.
• My New Favorite Futbolista downloads were up +77% versus the last season of the series, which covered the FIFA Men’s World Cup
• Engagement with My New Favorite Futbolista content on the NBC and Telemundo owned stations’ 24/7 local streaming channels was +62% higher than season three
• In addition, My New Favorite Futbolista reached top-5 on the Apple Podcast Sports Chart and was the No. 1 Women’s World Cup podcast on Spotify

ADVERTISING IMPACT

NBCUniversal and Telemundo are closing out the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup by delivering a powerful and impactful advertising environment for brands to connect with their target consumers at scale. Throughout the tournament, Spanish-language advertisements garnered double-digit advantages across key impact metrics. Compared to English-language coverage, Spanish-language advertisers saw +33% higher Brand Memorability, +75% higher Message Memorability and +33% higher Purchase Intent.

NBCUniversal’s World Cup brand partners presented meaningful contributions to the Spanish-language viewing experience by tapping into the support of storytelling, inspiration, and influential female representation. According to research conducted throughout the tournament, 9 in 10 viewers agree that Spanish-language advertisers are actively supporting Women in Sports and are helping to make things more equitable for women. Viewers are more likely to feel stronger connections and loyalty towards Spanish-language advertisers in comparison to competitive English-language norms.

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup success sets the stage for fans and marketers alike who are looking to capitalize on these moments in future NBCUniversal soccer programming – including the continuation of the 2023-24 Premier League season – which saw record-breaking viewership numbers across NBC Sports and Peacock opening weekend.

Sources:

• Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, 7/20/2023 – 8/20/2023
• Comscore powered by Shareablee, WWC content tagged #LaCopaEsNuestra, #MundialTelemundo, #MundialTelemundoDeportes, #FIFAWWC, #WWCTelemundo across Telemundo-owned accounts, 7/20/2023 – 8/20/2023
• MarketCast, WWC 2023, Standard Ads on Telemundo (Among Hispanics 18+) and FOX (Among Adults 18+), July-August 2023
• BPI, WWC Sentiment Tracker – Among SL and EL Viewers, July-August 2023