The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is attracting record viewer numbers to Spanish-language broadcasts on Telemundo and Peacock, following Mexico’s game against Poland providing the digital streaming platforms with their most consumed weekday.
Mexico’s victory on Tuesday was the most-watched World Cup match in US history, with 4.6 million viewers tuning in.
The first match of the campaign between Ecuador and Qatar pulled 832,000 viewers, a record for the most-watched Spanish-language match that was replaced one day later when one million people watched the US-Wales game.
Telemundo reported Thursday that the first eight games had averaged 2.5 million viewers throughout all broadcast and streaming platforms. The total is up 44% from 2018 when the US failed to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
From Sunday to Wednesday, Peacock was the top free iOS app on the App Store, and the Telemundo Deportes app was in the Top 5 for the majority of the week.
Furthermore, 11.7 million people watched the United States’ first game against Wales, which was broadcast in both English and Spanish. The English-language broadcast on Fox received 8,306,000 viewers, while the Spanish-language service on Telemundo, Telemundo digital, and Peacock received 3.4 million.