America's victory over Japan draws record high TV audience
The United States' win over Japan in the Women's World Cup final was the most viewed soccer game in the history of American television.
The 5-2 victory Sunday, which gave the Americans a record third title, was seen by 26.7 million viewers.
Fox said Monday its English-language coverage drew a 12.9 rating was seen by an average of 25.4 million, and NBC's Telemundo said its telecast averaged 1.27 million. The audience peaked at 30.9 million from 8:30-8:45 p.m. as the game neared its end, and 43.2 million tuned into some portion of the match.
Average viewership topped the previous mark of 26.5 million set when Germany beat Argentina in last year's men's World Cup final. That was seen by 17.3 million on ABC and 9.2 million on Spanish-language Univision.
Fox's viewership set a U.S. English-language record for soccer, topping the 18.22 million tuned to ESPN for the 2-2 draw between the American men and Portugal in the group stage on June 22 last year.
The previous high for a women's match was 17,975,000 on ABC for the United States' penalty kicks win over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup final.
Fox's viewership for this year's final at Vancouver, British Columbia, which started at 7 p.m. EDT, was nearly double the 13,458,000 that watched Japan's penalty-kicks win over the United States in the 2011 final. That game, played in Frankfurt, Germany, started at 2:45 p.m. EDT.
Fox's audience for the final exceeded the viewers for San Francisco's win over Kansas City in Game 7 of last year's World Series on Fox (23.5 million), Golden State's NBA title-winning victory over Cleveland last month on ABC (23,254,000) and Chicago's Stanley Cup-winning victory in Game 6 over Tampa Bay last month on NBC (8,005,000).
It was the highest for any U.S. broadcast since an average of 28.3 million saw Duke beat Wisconsin on CBS to win the NCAA men's basketball title in April.
The 52 World Cup matches on Fox, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 averaged 1,824,000, a 21 percent increase from the average of 1,511,000 for the 32 games of the 2011 tournament on ESPN and ESPN2.
St. Louis had the highest average for the seven U.S. matches at 8.0, followed by Kansas City (7.5), Washington, D.C. (7.3), Austin, Texas (6.6), San Diego (6.4), Richmond, Virginia (6.2), and Denver and Baltimore (6.1).
An average of 232,000 unique streamers watched the final on Fox Sports Go, a record for the app.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More