The broadcast is one of the biggest success stories of the 2022 World Cup, so far. In particular, the Peacock World Cup broadcast has skyrocketed with an incredible number of sports fans watching games online.
Several World Cup 2022 games have broken broadcast records. For example, Argentina against Mexico is the most broadcast World Cup match in history. It is the first World Cup match to exceed two million viewers. Likewise, no other football game in US history has seen higher streaming numbers than that. Other worthy mentions include USA vs. Iran (1.1 million viewers), USA vs. Wales (1 million) and Poland vs. Mexico (1.35 million). And those are just transmission numbers.
In the first week of its World Cup coverage, streaming accounted for 26% of Telemundo’s total audience, which is an unprecedented number. After the first week, the Peacock and Telemundo streaming platforms are averaging 673,000 viewers per World Cup game. That’s a 209% increase compared to the 2018 World Cup.
Peacock executive shares information about numbers
World Soccer Talk spoke earlier this week with Rick Cordella, president of programming for NBC Sports and Peacock Sports.
“In terms of the previous World Cup, [World Cup 2022] it’s pulling it out of the water,” Cordella said. “In general, any time we have one of these World Cups or Olympic Games, a gap of four years, you really see the difference.”
Priced at $4.99 per month combined with 180 Premier League games per season, the Peacock success story makes sense to many soccer fans. All 2022 FIFA World Cup games are streamed live and on demand via Peacock Premium.
Peacock’s success, in particular, during the World Cup is even more remarkable when you consider that all broadcasts are in Spanish. Although rival FOX has the exclusive English-language rights in the United States, the station does not have a direct-to-consumer streaming service for cord cutters. Despite this, their lack of a broadcast focus has seen them make significant profits on television.
Reasons For Peacock’s Successful World Cup Numbers
The 2022 World Cup has been the World Cup of surprises on and off the pitch.
We asked Cordella what he thought about the audience share of streaming versus linear (ie traditional TV) and why Peacock was so successful at the World Cup.
“We are the only place from a direct-to-consumer point where you can get these games,” Cordella explained. “I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of games in Spanish in your life as a big soccer fan, and people are fine with watching them in Spanish. Andrés Cantor is one of the best soccer announcers in the world. Hearing him call a match, whether you can fully comprehend Spanish or not, doesn’t matter.
“The other part is that the Hispanic demographic ends up leaning more towards streaming. The younger audience probably helped too.
“The last part is the time slots. You start with weekday morning games where people may not be able to get in front of their TVs, so you see a disproportionate amount of people on mobile.”
A Key to the Peacock World Cup Broadcast Numbers
We asked Cordella what impact English-speaking viewers have on the Peacock World Cup broadcast numbers.
“We are still dipping [to the numbers]Cordella said. “[Another point I have about the success of Peacock] It is First Division. The fact that we are the home of Premier League football exclusively, for many games, at Peacock.
“We already have a football fan that exists on our platform, who can just flip over and watch the World Cup during the Premier League break.”
Eight days after the World Cup final ends, the Premier League football calendar returns at Peacock.
World Cup 2022 Guide
Here are some resources to help you make the most of the biggest event in soccer!
