FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 7th, 2015
THIRD-PLACE MANCHESTER UNITED V. FOURTH-PLACE SOUTHAMPTON THIS SUN. AT 11 AM ET ON NBCSN HIGHLIGHTS FIRST 2015 PREMIER LEAGUE WEEKEND
Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino & Robbie Mustoe Review First Half of Season & Preview What’s Ahead
At Midseason: Average Viewership Up 15% & Adults 18-49 Demo Up 24% From Last Year; Washington DC, New York & Philadelphia Highest-Rated Markets
Fans Have Streamed More than 168 Million Minutes Of Premier League Action – Up 36% From 2013-14 Season Midpoint
78% Growth For “NBC Sports Soccer” Facebook Page
All Matches Available on NBC Sports Live Extra
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Premier League Live Studio Coverage to Originate From Downtown Phoenix During Super Bowl Week
STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 7, 2015 – Third-place Manchester United host fourth-place Southampton this Sunday, Jan. 11, at 11 a.m. ET on NBCSN, highlighting NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage for the first weekend action of 2015. NBC Sports Group’s lead Premier League play-by-play announcer Arlo White calls the match, joined by former Manchester United player and assistant coach Phil Neville, at Old Trafford. Former English footballer and BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker and analyst Graeme Le Saux host on-site studio coverage.
Just over halfway through the 2014-15 Premier League season, Premier League Live’s Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe look back on the first half of the season and what to expect going forward:
Rebecca Lowe: “The first half of this season has been, as it always is, riddled with storylines: Liverpool’s poor start; Chelsea’s moment of appearing invincible and Tottenham’s hard-to-decipher progression; whilst lower down it’s been about which club held its nerve long enough before firing their manager. Now that the managerial merry-go-round is going into top gear, expect plenty more drama as the clubs trying to stave off relegation get desperate. At the top, it had looked a done deal for Chelsea, but they’ve stumbled, and Jose Mourinho is as grumpy as I’ve seen him! Impossible to call from here on in…and that’s why we’re all addicted to the Premier League!”
Robbie Earle: “Once again, the league is proving to be the most challenging in the world. Manchester United now have, supposedly, one of the best managers in game, yet he’s had to use all of his strengths to get them back into the top four. It’s always laced with unique interest when you get two teams like West Ham and Southampton in and around the top four, knocking out some of the usual suspects. The biggest thing is less than six weeks ago, people were suggesting Chelsea were going to run away with the title. Manchester City closed a nine-point gap, and now the two teams are only separated by alphabetical order – same wins, draws, losses and goals. I can’t remember a time when that’s happened in the past. Looking down the league, there’s probably seven or eight teams that all believe they can stay up, but all have a fear of possibly going down. Usually, at this stage you’ll have one team that are almost away from the rest – one gone, two more places for relegation – we’re not in that situation.”
Kyle Martino: “2014 was a year of surprise. Not the Chelsea-Manchester City two-horse race, but most things below them. Manchester United and Southampton breaking into the top four, and in Merseyside, both Liverpool and Everton well below their high-water mark from this time last year, have been a head scratchers for most. Fortunately, 2015 will answer a lot of our pending questions.”
Robbie Mustoe: “A famous British TV series ‘Tales of the Unexpected’ could have been written for what we’ve seen in the Premier League so far this season. From disappointing and underachieving Arsenal, Liverpool, and Everton to the fantastically overachieving Southampton and West Ham, this season has illustrated what an unpredictable league it can be. Don’t expect a late twist in the plot though, the main characters will shine through for the season finale.”
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MIDSEASON METRICS
TV
At the 2014-15 season midpoint, NBC Sports Group’s average Premier League viewership is up 15% (to 479,000 viewers) from last season, with the Adults 18-49 demographic up 24% (to 284,000 viewers). Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal on November 22 on NBC averaged 1.4 million viewers to rank as the most-watched live Premier League match in U.S. history. Since kicking off its Premier League coverage in August 2013, NBC Sports Group has aired seven of the 10 most-watched live PL telecasts ever in the U.S.
Following are the highest-rated U.S. markets for Premier League coverage for the first half of the 2014-15 season (average across all games on NBC and NBCSN):
| 1. | Washington DC |
| 2. | New York |
| 3. | Philadelphia |
| 4. | Boston |
| 5. | Denver |
| 6. | Miami |
| 7. | Providence |
| 8. | Columbus, OH |
| 9. | Albuquerque |
| 10. | Dallas |
LIVE STREAMING
This season, fans have streamed more than 168 million minutes of action (up 36% vs. last year) via NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices and tablets, with 1.3 million uniques delivered (up 59% vs. last year). In addition, August’s Manchester City-Liverpool match, a 3-1 victory for City, set an NBC Sports Live Extra record for the Premier League with more than 4.4 million minutes live streamed.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The “NBC Sports Soccer” Facebook page has seen a 78% increase in fans leading into the second half of the Premier League season, resulting in a record reach of 329 million Facebook users.
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Weekend Premier League coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET this Saturday, Jan. 10, with Premier League Live on NBCSN and mun2, followed by Sunderland v. Liverpool at 7:45 a.m. ET and Chelsea v. Newcastle at 10 a.m. ET on NBCSN and mun2. All matches not on NBCSN in the Saturday 10 a.m. ET window will be available on Premier League Extra Time, a bonus television package available to MVPDs at no extra cost for customers who receive NBCSN.
At 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC presents Crystal Palace v. Tottenham. White calls the match, joined by analyst Lee Dixon at Selhurst Park. Immediately following the match is a live Goal Zone on NBC, hosted by Lowe, featuring Martino and Mustoe.
Coverage on Sunday, Jan. 11, begins at 7:30 a.m. ET with Premier League Live, followed by Arsenal v. Stoke City on NBCSN. Steve Bower calls the match joined by Dixon at Emirates Stadium.
All matches will be preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match shows from the NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Lowe hosts Premier League Live alongside Martino, and Mustoe.
Saturdays throughout the Premier League season, The 2 Robbies “Football” Show, hosted by Earle and Mustoe, airs at 5 p.m. ET on the terrestrial NBC Sports Radio Network as well as on NBCSportsRadio.com and the NBC Sports Radio mobile app. For more information, and to download the app, visit NBCSportsRadio.com.
THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW hosted by Michael Davies and Roger Bennett will air at 10 p.m. ET on NBCSN Mondays throughout the Premier League season.
All Premier League games will be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices and tablets.
Below is the schedule for NBCUniversal’s soccer coverage this week (all times ET):
| Date | Time | Match | Network |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 7 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 7:45 a.m. | Sunderland v. Liverpool | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | Chelsea v. Newcastle | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | Everton v. Manchester City | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | Swansea City v. West Ham | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | Leicester City v. Aston Villa | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | West Brom v. Hull City | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 10 a.m. | Burnley v. Queens Park Rangers | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 12:30 p.m. | Crystal Palace v. Tottenham | NBC |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 2:30 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBC |
| Sat., Jan. 10 | 11 p.m. | Match of the Day | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | 1 a.m. | Match of the Week | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | 7:30 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | 8:30 a.m. | Arsenal v. Stoke City | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | 11 a.m. | Manchester United v. Southampton | NBCSN, Telemundo |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | 1 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 11 | Midnight | Match of the Day II | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 12 | 1 a.m. | Match of the Week | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 12 | 9 p.m. | Premier League Download: The Southampton Way | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 12 | 10 p.m. | THE MEN IN BLAZERS SHOW | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 12 | 10:30 p.m. | Barclays Premier League Review | NBCSN |
| Tues., Jan. 13 | 12:30 a.m. | Premier League Encore | NBCSN |
| Tues., Jan. 13 | 11 p.m. | Premier League Encore | NBCSN |
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PREMIER LEAGUE LIVE AT THE SUPER BOWL
Premier League Live, NBC Sports Group’s pre- and post-match studio show, will originate from downtown Phoenix during Super Bowl week. Beginning on Saturday, Jan. 31, the program will be located at “Super Bowl Central,” NBC Sports Group’s primary home for studio programing during Super Bowl week, located in downtown Phoenix.
Rebecca Lowe will host NBC Sports Group’s Premier League Live coverage throughout the weekend, alongside former Jamaica National Team player Robbie Earle, former Major League Soccer and U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Kyle Martino, and former Premier League footballer Robbie Mustoe.
NBC Sports Group’s coverage will feature 10 Premier League matches during Super Bowl weekend, including a match between the two clubs currently tied for the top spot in the league, when Chelsea host Manchester City Saturday, Jan. 31 at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
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NBC Sports Group will once again make all 380 games from the Premier League available in the United States on the networks of NBCUniversal, on the Premier League Extra Time bonus TV package, and streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available at the App Store for iPad and iPod touch, and on select tablet devices within Google Play. Every MVPD has the option to carry every Premier League match on live television and via live streaming at no additional cost to consumers.
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–
