ESPN Star Record Strong Ratings For FA Premier League Asia Cup
Ratings for the FA Premier League Asia Cup confirm that Asian football fans are passionate about the world’s most popular football league, regardless of the teams playing. Average ratings for the LIVE matches of the first-ever Premier League sanctioned event outside England which aired on the ESPN STAR Sports network across Asia and which featured top-level Premiership clubs, are in fact comparable to that of regular season English Premier League (EPL) matches.
While clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal currently drive the popularity of the EPL in Asia, it appears interest in the clubs who played in the tournament in July and other lesser known clubs is not far behind.
Peoplemeter ratings for the broadcasts of the live matches played by Newcastle United, Chelsea and Birmingham City during the four-day tournament enjoyed ratings consistent with those seen during live broadcasts of EPL matches from the 2002/2003 seaon on ESPN and STAR Sports.
In Singapore for example, live broadcasts of EPL matches during the 2002/2003 season enjoyed an average of 4.7 TVR points among males 15+ with cable. EPL matches featuring any of the three teams who played in the tournament also enjoyed an average of 4.7 TVR points while average ratings for a live FA Premier League Asia Cup performed comparably with 3.5 TVR points. The ratings in Hong Kong show similar consistency with live EPL matches and live matches played by any of the three Asia Cup teams enjoying an above 5 TVR point. Average ratings for the Premier League Asia Cup matches were 2.2 TVR points.
Looking beyond sport, the ratings for the Premier League Asia Cup were better than the best programmes on other cable channels in Asia including Edutainment, Music and Action channels for the period Jan – July 2003.
The 2002/2003 season, saw Newcastle and Chelsea each enjoying over 6 TVR points for at least 8 matches during the period. Not to be out-done, Birmingham City saw 5 of its matches enjoying over 5 TVR points. This is comparable to Arsenal who ended the season with 11 matches enjoying at least 7 TVR points, Liverpool with 9 matches and Manchester United with 18 matches.
The drama and excitement of the EPL season began last August 16 live and exclusive on ESS’s two channels, ESPN and STAR Sport. Football fans across Asia can again enjoy five live matches every week, adding to over 160 live games in the 2003/2004 season. Besides match telecast, there are weekly highlights as well as pre- and post-match programming to give the latest news, predictions and in-depth analysis.
The English Premier League is the most widely distributed sports programme across Asia. It is seen in over 150 million homes on the ESS network with 8 of 10 people with cable in Asia tuning in to the 02/03 EPL season. It was also the top programme on cable in 2002, rating 10 times better than the best programme on all other cable channels. (Peoplemeter)
According to Peoplemeter data, a single EPL match delivers reaches 167% more viewers than all cable news channels combined. While Asia’s sizeable out of home audience remains unmeasured by in-home Peoplemeter measurements, research indicates that 64% watch the EPL outside their homes every week.
Looking ahead, the popularity of these football clubs is expected to rise fueled by the popularity of the League itself. Viewership of the world’s most popular football league among males 15+ with access to cable and satellite, is projected to grow by 63% from the current 249 million to 407 million over the next ten years.
For further information contact:
ESPN Star Sports
Stephenie Vasko or Mai Tatoy
Tel: +65 6488 6129 / +65 6488 6134
vaskos@espnstar.com or tatoym@espnstar.com