The WatchESPN app is working fine, as ESPN sets records in the World Cup.
The app showed a significant increase in the audience, generating a 469,000 average minute audience, according to TheFutonCritic.com.
The website said the World Cup viewership is up19 percent for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC over the World Cup in 2010.
The Nielsen company said 11.1 million people saw the USA beat Ghana 2-1 on ESPN on Monday, representing the largest audience for a soccer match ever, reported The Associated Press.
Nielsen said another 4.8 million people watched the Univision broadcast.
Those numbers are down from the 17.3 million, who saw the US opening match in 2010 against England, which was shown on Univision and ABC.
And 19.7 million watched USA and Ghana in the knockout round, which ended in a victory for Ghana.
For the next few games, the viewership for the USA matches will probably be higher than in 2010 because the time zones in Brazil are closer to that of the US timezones.
The USA games against Algeria and Slovenia drew 7.5 million and 8.7 million, respectively. However, they were shown in the morning.
And over 14 World Cup games, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 have averaged 4.11 million viewers, which is up from 3.35 million in 2010, reported AP.
“In addition, ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC have posted significant increases in the key people and male demographics (18-34, 18-49 and 25-54) where the networks lead all networks in the United States that televises the World Cup action,” the Futon Critic wrote.
On Thursday, Colombia will play Ivory Coast at 12 p.m. ET. Later, Uruguay will place England at 3 p.m. ET and Japan will play Greece at 6 p.m. ET.
Full AP update:
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 16 million people in the United States watched the country’s World Cup opener on television.
The Nielsen company says 11.1 million people who saw the U.S. beat Ghana 2-1 on ESPN on Monday represented that network’s biggest audience for a soccer match. Nielsen says an additional 4.8 million people watched the Spanish-language broadcast on Univision.
That’s down from the 17.3 million who saw the first U.S. match in the 2010 tournament, against England, which was shown on ABC and Univision on a Saturday afternoon. Four years ago, 19.7 million people watched the U.S.-Ghana match in the knockout round, which ended the United States’ run in the tournament and was also shown on ABC and Univision on a Saturday afternoon.
ESPN says an additional 469,000 watched a digital stream of this year’s match, a usage record for its WatchESPN app. Comparable Univision numbers were not immediately available.
There’s a strong likelihood viewership for the next two U.S. games will eclipse the 2010 tournament, in part because the time zones in Brazil are close to those in the U.S. Games four years ago with Slovenia and Algeria, shown on ESPN and Univision in the morning hours, reached 7.5 million and 8.7 million.
Through 14 games, World Cup action on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC has averaged 4.11 million viewers, up from 3.35 million at the same juncture in 2010, Nielsen said. ESPN’s streaming viewership is up 170 percent over the last World Cup.
Nielsen does not measure people who watch the games at work or in bars.
