FOX’s live airing of Chelsea against Manchester United on February 5, 2012 delivered an average 0.8 rating with 1.377 million viewers, which was approximately 119,000 viewers more than the viewing figures for the Arsenal versus Manchester United match shown live on FOX on January 20, 2012. The audience for the Chelsea versus Man United match was 1.258 million.

Excluding Super Bowl programming on NBC, the Chelsea against Manchester United match was the top-rated broadcast event of that weekend among young viewers including men 18-34 and men 18-49. The top markets airing the game live were New York and Washington DC, which led all markets with a 1.6 rating, followed by Portland, Birmingham and Austin with a 1.5.

FOX also showed the game live on FOX Deportes. When the ratings for FOX and FOX Deportes are combined, the total viewing audience was 1.843 million, with a combined rating of 1.1.

According to a spokesperson for FOX Sports, there are no new plans to report currently regarding the chance of any additional Premier League matches being shown live, or on tape delay, on FOX for the remainder of the season. Eric Shanks, FOX Media Group co-President and co-COO, recently told the press that he expects there to be one more live match shown next season compared to this.

One of the most depressing things to have emerged from the racism scandal that has threatened to overshadow large parts of the Premier League season is the loyalty blindness that has affected large amounts of fans throughout the league.

The boos that rained down on Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdinand were a signal that all is not well in the minds of a significant minority of so called football supporters. To boo a victim or alleged victim of racism is disgusting enough but to then claim that it is justified along tribal lines is frankly appalling behavior.

If what has happened over the last few weeks would have unfolded in any other country, let us say Russia or Spain for argument’s sake, our media and fans of football in this country would have been swift and damning in their criticism of it. However, it appears to be all too easy for people to put the football goggles on and descend into some sort of twisted moral logic that even the most dastardly politician would have trouble replicating.

Take for example the booing of Patrice Evra at Anfield. Here we are faced with a large number of people abusing a person who has been found, through an independent tribunal, to have been the victim of racist abuse from a fellow professional. Yet a significant amount of Liverpool fans felt that it was acceptable to boo Evra because he played for a rival team and his evidence had seen one of the Kop’s favourites banned.

This is not just a criticism aimed at Liverpool fans. There are fans at all clubs that embarrass the right thinking majority. Chelsea fans booing Rio Ferdinand and any number of clubs who sang the now infamous Adebayor chant over the last few years are just a couple of examples. Unfortunately there are plenty more out there.

Football is an emotive subject for many and showing undying love for their team is something that comes naturally to so many and this passion is a large part of what makes football and the Premier League in particular such a joy to follow. But passion and loyalty can never be used as an excuse for behaviour that in any other walk of life would be viewed with the utmost disdain.

“It is only a game” may sound like the kind of phrase your mum would say after another demoralising defeat as a child but at times like this, it is the most important thing to remember. If we lose sight of this fact then football will have lost its place in life. The role of sport is self defined – the oldest definition of the word in English is “anything humans find amusing or entertaining”. If we have reached the point where booing a victim of abuse is entertaining is seen as a form of entertainment then we all need to take a good long look at ourselves.

FOX delivered a 1.0 overnight rating for its February 5, 2002 live broadcast of Chelsea against Manchester United.

The rating is higher than the 0.9 that Arsenal against Manchester United generated, but lower than the 1.3 rating for the November 20, 2011 broadcast of Chelsea against Liverpool, which was shown on tape delay.

It’s good news to see that the rating for the 3-3 draw between Chelsea and Manchester United was greater than the Arsenal versus Manchester United match from January 20, 2012. Progress was made there, but based on the ratings data, it again points to the need for games to be shown live on FOX Soccer and shown on delay on the free-to-air network later in the day in order to maximize the most amount of viewers.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a broadcast.

After watching Sunday’s remarkable clash between Chelsea and Manchester United at Stamford Bridge, I was left in awe at the fighting qualities United have in abundance. For a team minus ten first team regulars including Vidic, Fletcher, Jones, Nani and Smalling, United still managed to display the courage of champions in a sensational second half fight back. Admittedly Chelsea were missing the equivalent of these players through the absence of Terry, Lampard, Drogba and Cole. Yet it was they who contrived to cough up a three goal cushion.

Are United back to their swash buckling best or was this game just a freak occurrence? Throughout the course of the season United have been average at best and the quality of their football has been nowhere in comparison to Tottenham’s refreshing brand of attacking football. Yet to be only two points off City at this stage represents remarkable progress for a team labeled by some critics (you know who are Hansen) as ‘’hopeless.’

The Premier League this season has been one of the most unpredictable in years, but the only constant has been United’s ability to keep in touch at the top while playing well below par. Certainly not in the class of teams of the past, this United team has qualities that other teams simply don’t possess. The desire on the faces of the players during the game at the Bridge even after falling three goals behind was particularly noteworthy and is a reminder to any aspiring teams that self-belief is one of the key characteristics of a winning team.

Not blessed with a Silva or a Bale, United have a team spirit that is second to none. A point agreed by even the most ardent of United fans is that their midfield pales into comparison when looking at either City’s or Spurs midfield personal. Yet, to remain in the midst of an engaging title race is creditworthy and praise must be given to not only the players but also to the manager who clearly understands their limitations and is making the most of the resources at his disposal. Perhaps they won’t come out on top when the trophies are being handed out in May, but you can be certain they will still be a key part of the equation until the dying moments of the season. Football has the ability to amaze and inspire, and after witnessing the comeback from three goals down yesterday, one must surely have been in awe at the never say die attitude on display by all associated with United. That even includes the goalkeeper who arguably produced the stop of the season to deny the magical Mata from delivering the spoils for Chelsea.

As the season enters ‘’squeaky bum time,’’ will the desire needed to be champions be on display against Manchester City and Spurs? Unquestionably the United camp will be immersed in self-belief by this stage, but will the other contenders possess the same attributes. Arguably City have greater resources at their disposal, but will it be United’s belief and refusal to be beaten that will carry the day come May? At present who would back against United — ably assisted by Giggs and Scholes to provide the perfect remedy to City’s riches come May? After watching such an unpredictable season thus far, I for one won’t be writing the men from Old Trafford off.

The much-hyped match between Chelsea and Manchester United is over, and it was definitely one of the best matches of the season. Six goals, plenty of talking points and an amazing comeback, this is a game that we won’t forget for quite some time.

For TV viewers in the United States, here are the highs and lows of FOX’s live coverage of the game on the free-to-air network.

Highs

1. FOX’s decision to continue giving us the Sky Sports audio commentary feed for matches. FOX deserves a thumbs up for giving us the treat of hearing Martin Tyler and Alan Smith instead of the international feed. The commentary is always the best available.
2. FOX for showing the game live on free-to-air network TV. Not every station showed it (more about that later), but hats off to FOX for showing it on national TV to an audience of 1-2 million.
3. Eric Wynalda. The opinionated pundit was straightforward, intelligent and listenable. He’s the best thing that FOX has going for it right now.
4. Dear Super Bowl, Top That. Rob Stone’s line immediately after the game ended seemed sincere, unrehearsed and in your face. I loved it.
5. Production quality. The on-screen graphics, camera angles and overall production value were well done and very professional.

Lows

1. Piers Morgan. I’m not a Piers Morgan hater, but he seems to like being antagonistic — whether it’s trying to bait people on Twitter, or saying stupid things like David De Gea is the worst goalkeeper in the Premier League (like he said on before the match kicked off on FOX today). When he makes silly comments, it hurts not only his credibility but also that of FOX.
2. Rob Stone. He’s only been on the job for a few weeks at FOX, but he’s already made a few flubs. The most noticeable one today was where, in the opening minute, he thought Gary Cahill was Tim Cahill. I would excuse him for that, but he’s made other flubs in previous weeks such as not knowing how to pronounce Norwich, and thinking that Robert Huth played for Sunderland instead of Stoke. At least Christian Miles wouldn’t have made those mistakes.
3. The 16 FOX stations that decided to show the game on tape delay instead of live.
4. Switching to the Tyler-Smith commentary one second before kick-off. You would think that FOX would have learned by now that we soccer fans like hearing the crowd noise and commentators a few minutes before kickoff. But FOX, as they always seem to do, ended up switching to the audio feed of Tyler-Smith one second before the ball was kicked. FOX, learn from ESPN.
5. Post-match highlights. Unless I missed it, the post-match coverage was rushed and too short. ESPN gives us post-match interviews and highlights from the game. FOX gave us Wynalda and Morgan talking.

The latest news from Stamford Bridge is that Chelsea is saying that the snow is no major problem, and that the match today will go ahead as planned at 11am ET/4pm GMT. FOX must be breathing a huge sigh of relief right now with it being the “Greatest live Premier League match in US television history,” after all.

Before we get to Chelsea against Manchester United, there is a big match on earlier today with Newcastle United at home against Aston Villa. Newcastle will see the return of Demba Ba to the team after his time with Senegal in the Africa Cup Of Nations. Demba Ba will start today, while new signing Papiss Cisse is on the bench. Aston Villa, meanwhile, will be buoyed by their inspired comeback mid-week against Queens Park Rangers. Kick-off is at 8:30am ET on FOX Soccer.

The conclusion of the match at St. James’s Park will lead us nicely into the pre-match discussion for Chelsea against Manchester United. If you live in the United States and your local FOX station is showing the game live, the coverage begins at 10:30am ET with analysis from Eric Wynalda and Piers Morgan. Manchester United needs a win to level with Manchester City, while Chelsea needs a win to gain some sort of respect for the club in the league this season. So far, Andre Villas-Boas has been very underwhelming whenever Chelsea has come up against Manchester United or Arsenal.

Chelsea team: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Bosingwa, Essien, Meireles, Malouda, Sturridge, Torres, Mata

Manchester United team: De Gea, Rafael, Evans, Ferdinand, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Giggs, Young, Rooney, Welbeck

Meanwhile, on FOXSoccer.com, FOX Soccer writer Ives Galarcep writes about Soccer’s Quest to Convert New Followers, which I would reword as “FOX’s Quest to Convert New Soccer Followers.” The sentence in the article that immediately jumped out at me was this:

“As recently as the mid-90s, catching some soccer on your television [in the US] was a pipe dream.”

That’s simply not true. Premier League games have been shown live on US television since 1996.

Ives also adds:

“Sunday’s Chelsea-Manchester United match on FOX will serve as another rung in the ladder for a sport that had virtually no television presence in this country just two decades ago.”

Virtually is a poor choice of word, in my opinion. English football coverage has been shown on US television for more than two decades (since 1990, in fact).

To me, this smells like a bit of revisionist history on the part of FOX (or poor research by Galarcep). Just because English soccer was shown before FOX became involved, that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.

One more thing. Galarcep’s article would have been a perfect opportunity to include a sidebar or a callout to let readers know that the Chelsea against Manchester United game isn’t being shown live on 16 FOX stations nationwide. But there’s not a word about that. It’s almost as if FOX doesn’t want people to know that some stations aren’t carrying it.

Before, during or after the match today, post your comments, questions, observations and rants or raves in the comments section below.

Sunday’s battle between Chelsea and Manchester United is being promoted in FOX TV commercials as the “Greatest live Premier League match in US television history.” Unfortunately the advertising may irk some soccer fans in the United States who will be unable to watch the game live because their local FOX station has decided to show infomercials, local shows or religious programming instead.

Just like the Arsenal-Manchester United game shown by FOX on January 22, several FOX stations in large markets have decided to show the game on delay. The 17 who won’t be showing the game live are:

• WITI (Milwaukee) — Shown on delay at 12:30pm local time,
• WBRC (Birmingham) — Shown on delay beginning at Noon,
• WGXA (Macon) — Shown on delay starting at Noon,
• KPTM (Omaha) – Broadcast begins at 11:30am local time,
• WXXV (Biloxi) — Shown on delay at 3pm local time,
• WICZ (Binghamton) — Shown on delay at 11:30am ET,
• WTRF (Wheeling) — Shown on delay at 2:30pm.
• WFXR (Roanoke) — Shown at Noon,
• KHMT (Billings) — Shown at 10am,
• WVNS (Bluefield) — Shown at 2:30pm,
• WZDX (Huntsville) — Shown at 11am,
• WVFX (Clarksburg) — Shown at 2pm,
• WTIC (Hartford) — Shown at Noon,
• KNDX (Minot) — Delayed until Noon local time,
• KEVN (Rapid City) – Delayed until 10am local time,
• KWKT (Waco) — Delayed until 10am local time.

Programming subject to change. Check local listings.

UPDATE: WSVN will show the game live on its D2 sister station.

“We hope our affiliates always take network programming, especially live offerings, in-pattern, but the decision rests with them and sometimes depends on local programming obligations,” said a FOX Sports spokesperson. “The good news is that fewer affiliates are delaying this week’s match than on Jan. 22, so we’re moving in the right direction. We feel pretty good that game will be live in over 90% of the country, and delays, wherever they occur, aren’t expected to negatively impact the audience.”

“FOX Sports is committed to EPL, UEFA and the World Cup down the road more so than any other network and will continue look for and find more opportunities to run significant matches on FOX,” added the FOX Sports spokesman. “We’re looking at the glass as better than 90% full, and that’s a big step forward, but we won’t be happy until the glass is filled to the top and we’re 100% live from coast to coast.”

I’m sorry, but it’s absolutely ridiculous that a game, touted as “the greatest live Premier League match in US television history,” won’t even be shown live in many major US cities.

It’s vitally important that you contact your local FOX station and either voice your outrage (if your station isn’t showing the game) or voice your support (if the station is carrying it). Contact your FOX station by Twitter, Facebook, phone, e-mail or via a web-form.

Here’s the contact information for 17 of the FOX stations nationwide. Note that this list is far from complete. If yours isn’t listed, please post the contact information in the comments section below and let me know whether the game is being shown live or not. I’ll update the spreadsheet as I get more information from you, the readers.

Two more important points about this game:

1) I believe that advertising this game as “the greatest live Premier League match in US television history” is misguided. Why does FOX believe it’s going to be the greatest? Based on what? The coverage, or the actual game itself? While I hope it’s an entertaining match, Chelsea currently sits in fourth place, 12 points behind Manchester City and Manchester United who are joint top. Chelsea’s Premier League title race has long been over. If it’s not the game that will be the “greatest live Premier League match,” maybe it’s the coverage? But we have little to base that on other than the inclusion of Rob Stone and Piers Morgan, who both have their attributes but none that would make this game the greatest.

It’s pure over-exaggerated hype. It’s not even close to being the greatest game unless it ends up being a firecracker of a match, which — given Chelsea’s current form — I extremely doubt.

2) It’s time to question whether FOX’s strategy of showing select Premier League games live on the free-to-air network is wise. The jury will be out until the ratings come in for Chelsea against Manchester United, but based on the data we’ve seen so far, the best strategy for FOX would be to show all Premier League 11am ET games live on FOX Soccer in the morning, and then show select Premier League Super Sunday matches on delay in the mid-to-late afternoon hours. The best rating FOX received so far this season was the tape delayed broadcast of Chelsea against Liverpool, which was shown at 2:30pm or 4pm (preceding or following a NFL broadcast, depending on each local market).

Showing Premier League games live on the free-to-air FOX network creates several issues: (1) Local FOX stations have other programming which takes priority, (2) the time of the live game isn’t conducive to the highest ratings possible for Premier League matches, and (3) it infuriates soccer fans who are unable to watch live games in their local markets.

I believe that it’s important that FOX handles you, their core soccer audience, with care. You are the viewers who have been watching Premier League games on FOX Soccer for more than a decade. You are the soccer fans who have helped FOX Soccer grow into what it is today. Without you, FOX Soccer would not exist. FOX is at an important crossroads in their history where they are looking to attract the mainstream audience, which is where the money is at. However, FOX risks upsetting its core audience, i.e. you.

At the end of the day, all we want is to be able to watch Premier League games live. Having them available on tape delay is simply not good enough. In fact, if anything, it creates a situation where tape delayed games will force soccer fans to find illegal means of watching the game live, which is something that none of us want. If I have a choice of seeing a game live on FOX Soccer or seeing it live on FOX, I would have to choose FOX Soccer even though I realize it means that the sport (and league) may not grow as quickly as I would like in this country. It’s vital that soccer fans are not at the mercy of their local FOX station. With FOX Soccer, we can guarantee that if they say they’re going to show the game live, it’ll be on.

Nevertheless, I believe it’s of massive importance that each of you who live in the United States contacts your local FOX station and either thanks them for showing Sunday’s game live, or issues a complaint if they’re not showing it live. There’s no excuse why these stations should be showing the game on delay. And it’s important that they know that there is a vocal soccer audience out there who demands the best possible live viewing experience. Anything else is unacceptable.

The fourth round of the FA Cup today offers too very explosive matches for all of the wrong reasons. Let’s hope the off-the-field drama involving QPR and Chelsea plus Liverpool and Manchester United doesn’t spill over to the pitch. The sooner we get the handshake or no handshake behind us, as well as the whole Patrice Evra incident, the better. Today should be a day to concentrate our focus back on the football that’s played on the pitch.

For viewers in the United States, there’ll be three other FA Cup games televised in addition to QPR/Chelsea and Liverpool/Man United. Those are Leicester against Swindon (a battle between two up-and-coming teams), Derby against Stoke City (a chance for American-owned Derby to try to get a Premier League scalp) and then, last but not least, Brighton against Newcastle. Brighton manager Gus Poyet’s side started off the season very well, but may find it too tough to beat Newcastle at their brand-new stadium. However, if Newcastle’s defense plays anything like they did against Fulham last week, anything is possible.

Starting line-ups:

Manchester United: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Evans, Evra, Valencia, Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Park, Welbeck.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Enrique, Agger, Skrtel, Carragher, Henderson, Gerrard, Downing, Maxi, Carroll.

Before, during and after today’s FA Cup matches, post your rants, raves, questions and observations in the comments section below.

The first ever live Premier League match shown on free-to-air network television in the United States delivered 1.3 million viewers for the Sunday, January 22 match between Arsenal and Manchester United on FOX. The broadcast delivered a 0.8 rating

The viewing figure of 1.3 million doubled the previous record high for live coverage of a Premier League match on either ESPN (528,000 for Manchester United-Arsenal, December 2010) and FOX Soccer (418,000 for Chelsea vs Liverpool, February 2011). The record-high for any Premier League match is the 1.67 million who watched the tape-delay of Chelsea against Liverpool on FOX in November, 2011.

Despite the fact that the broadcast of Arsenal against Manchester United was not shown in approximately 10% of US markets, FOX was able to provide live coverage in just under 100 million homes.

According to a FOX Sports representative, Sunday’s game rated lower than FOX’s tape-delayed EPL broadcasts earlier this season which followed NFL games. With the benefit of a later time slot and the enormous NFL lead-in or lead-out, those matches averaged a 1.1 rating nationally.

The next Premier League match that will be shown live on free-to-air network television in the United States is the February 5 encounter between Chelsea and Manchester United on FOX at 10:30am ET on Super Bowl Sunday (check local listings).

Premier League soccer on TV is at an important crossroads in the United States. The interest in the league is growing by such leap and bounds that several Premier League matches have graduated from FOX Soccer to the free-to-air FOX network (Sunday’s Arsenal-Man United game scored an 0.9 rating). However, with these changes come growing pains. For TV viewing numbers to grow from 300,000-500,000 to 1.5 million and beyond, Premier League matches have to be shown on national free-to-air networks such as FOX instead of niche sports channels like FOX Soccer. But in order to do so, it takes the cooperation of more than 100 FOX stations nationwide to each show the game at the same time, and that’s not an easy feat.

That begs the question: For Premier League soccer to move more into the mainstream, is it worth the pain of having games on FOX? Not that we have a choice or much control in the matter, but should FOX Soccer continue the policy of showing select Premier League matches on FOX in order for the sport to grow in this country? If so, isolated soccer fans across the United States will be at the mercy of their local FOX affiliates and may not be able to watch live matches. But if we are to break on through to the other side and get larger viewing audiences, we will have to persevere with local FOX stations, and get on their backs when they decide not to show matches live.

Or should we? We could continue to have Super Sunday games shown live on FOX Soccer where we’re guaranteed that if the schedule says it’ll be on TV, it’ll be on. Share your feedback in the comments below regarding which method you prefer, and whether you care about the growth of the Premier League and soccer because let’s face it — the two best hopes for soccer making it bigger in America is either the US men’s national team winning a World Cup, or the Premier League becoming part of the US sports fabric.

The addition of Arsenal versus Manchester United to FOX’s calendar was a decision that was made on December 5, 2011. According to an industry source, because FOX put Arsenal vs Manchester United on the FOX broadcast network with less than 6 months notice, FOX affiliates not owned by NewsCorp were under no obligation to clear the time slot for the match. Thus we arrived at yesterday’s situation where six of the major markets in the United States didn’t show the game live, while there were 14 other FOX stations in smaller markets who did the same.

Disappointing and frustrating, yes. But why did it take an exclusive story by EPL Talk on Saturday morning to be the first to make viewers (and soccer fans) aware that the game wasn’t going to be shown live in some markets? The way that FOX viewers were treated in those markets that were affected is disgraceful. For several weeks, we’ve seen advertising on FOX stations across the United States that promoted #EpicSunday. And then many of those stations didn’t even show the game live. And many of the ones that showed it on delay then didn’t air it in HD.

Infomercials instead of soccer on WAGA FOX Atlanta (Photo by @thechrismartz)

To make matters worse, the programming that aired instead of the live Arsenal-Manchester United game was, depending on the FOX station, an assortment of infomercials (see above), a rerun of the flop Corky Romano, church programming and/or reruns of local programming. Each of the FOX stations listed below should be ashamed of the way they handled the situation.

At the same time, there was little to no response on social media from the FOX stations (or FOX Sports, as they promised). The only official response I saw from one of the FOX stations was to pass the buck. Unless I missed it (if so, please let me know in the comments section below), soccer fans venting on Facebook and Twitter were ignored by FOX stations on social media. The silence was deafening.

Remember that the fight is far from over. When Chelsea plays Manchester United on February 5, Super Bowl Sunday, and the game kicks off at 11am ET, there’s no guarantee that your local FOX station is going to show the game live. And you won’t be able to watch it live on FOX Soccer. That next game is only 13 days away, so it’s never too early to begin contacting your FOX station to ask whether they’ll be showing it live. And applying pressure on them to ensure they don’t make the same mistake again that they did yesterday.

If you think this is a one-time occurrence, think again. While there should be fewer issues with FOX stations not showing live Premier League games because they’ve been given adequate notice ahead of time, FOX Sports plans on showing select Premier League Super Sunday matches on the free-to-air FOX network next season, and may add one more than what they’ve shown this season. Read the interesting interview with a FOX Sports Media Group executive.

Soccer fans share their outrage on FOX 5 Atlanta Facebook's page

Here are the FOX stations that should be embarrassed by their decision not to show the game live (that aired infomercials and reruns instead).

FOX stations Hall of Shame: 

• WSVN (Miami/Fort Lauderdale),
• WAGA (Atlanta),
• WITI (Milwaukee),
• WJW (Cleveland),
• WRAZ (Raleigh/Durham),
• WXIN (Indianapolis),
• WBRC (Birmingham),
• KHMT (Billings),
• WXXV (Biloxi),
• WICZ (Binghamton),
• WHNS (Greenville),
• WZDX (Huntsville),
• WGXA (Macon),
• KPTM (Omaha),
• WFXR (Roanoke),
• WTGS (Savannah),
• KRBK (Springfield, MO),
• WTHI (Terre Haute),
• WTRF (Wheeling),
• WYFX (Youngstown).

PS — For those of you who had a chance to watch the FOX broadcast, I should add that the actual production was FOX’s best yet for their Super Sunday matches on the free-to-air network. Rob Stone looked tired under his makeup, but he played the role as host well, while I found Piers Morgan and Eric Wynalda to both be adequate. The analysis wasn’t explosive, but I found Morgan’s opinions to be heartfelt and opinionated. It’s just a shame that not everyone had a chance to see it live.