TV ratings down for World Cup opener

Published

The overnight rating from major markets of the World Cup opener was less than half of the overnight for the first game of the 2014 tournament, hurt by a much earlier kickoff and less glamorous teams.

Host Russia's 5-0 rout of Saudi Arabia, which kicked off at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday, got a 1.6 average in metered markets, according to Nielsen Media Research. That was down from a 3.4 for Brazil's 3-1 win over Croatia four years ago on ESPN, which started at 4 p.m. EDT. South Africa's 1-1 tie against Mexico in 2010 for a 2.3 for a 10 a.m. EDT kickoff.

The overnight rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a broadcast among television households in the 56 major metered U.S. markets.