World Cup reaches 1/3 of All U.S. TV Viewers.

World Cup soccer telecasts aired on all English and Spanish language networks have reached an estimated 34% of all U.S. TV viewers, according to figures released by The Nielsen Company.

A total of 99.2 million U.S. viewers have watched at least six minutes of World Cup action through Tuesday. The figure already surpasses the 91.4 million viewers who watched at least some of the games throughout the entire 2006 World Cup.

“The audience reach measurement is a good indicator of how many viewers are at least curious enough to see what all the buzz is about,” said Stephen Master, VP of sports at Nielsen. “Even with the World Cup’s most crucial games still to come, a reach of 99.2 million viewers suggests that there’s a big American appetite for world class soccer.”

Miami Dominates Local Rankings

Viewers in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale market are watching the World Cup more than any other market in the country. Through Tuesday, Miami has the highest ratings for both English language (3.6 HH rating) and Spanish language (5.2 HH rating) World Cup telecasts.

New York City has the second highest ratings for English language telecasts (3.3 HH rating), followed by Washington, DC (3.2 HH rating). San Diego, which was the top rated English language market in 2006, ranks fouth so far this year with a 3.1 average household rating.

After Miami, Los Angeles has the highest average rating for Spanish language broadcasts (4.1 HH rating). Houston (3.5), Las Vegas (2.6), and Dallas-Ft. Worth (2.4) round out the top five.

For more information at http://www.nielsen.com