The U.S. match against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Cup was viewed by nearly 26.4 million people, making it the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in the country’s history, Fox said Monday.
It also set a Spanish-language record as the most-watched U.S. soccer match, according to Telemundo, which reported an audience of 9.8 million viewers. That’s a 33% increase from the previous record set by the U.S. and Turkey in group play.
The U.S. beat Bosnia 2-0 on Wednesday night in the first round of the knockout stage to reach the round of 16.
It was the most-watched program on any network since the Super Bowl on Feb. 8 between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
Game 5 of the NBA Finals, in which the New York Knicks won their first championship since 1973, averaged 24.5 million viewers on ABC and ESPN, with audience peaking at 33 million.
Fox said its audience peaked at over 34.8 million between 9:45 p.m. and 10 p.m. EDT. Kansas City, Missouri; Boston; St. Louis; San Francisco; and Austin, Texas, were the top local markets.
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