Telemundo’s Olympics audience sets record

Boosted by Mexico’s run in men’s soccer, NBCUniversal’s Spanish-language network, Telemundo, scored viewership records for Olympics coverage.

Telemundo said Monday that 22.5 million viewers watched a portion of its coverage of the London Olympics over the 17 days.

Saturday’s highly anticipated men’s soccer championship final, in which Mexico defeated Brazil, drew 3.6 million viewers -- a new record for an Olympics audience on Telemundo. The game, which attracted more viewers than programming on any other TV station in Los Angeles Saturday morning, also produced Telemundo’s highest weekend day ratings for a soccer match.

“God bless soccer,” sportscaster Andrés Cantor said as he began calling Saturday’s match at the iconic Wembley Stadium.

Overall, Telemundo’s viewership was up 42% compared with the company’s Spanish-language coverage of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Telemundo’s coverage highlighted Latino athletes and soccer, boxing, basketball and swimming events.

The London Olympics captured the honor of being the most-watched event in U.S. television history with more than 219 million viewers, NBCUniversal said Monday. The company dedicated six television networks, including NBC, MSNBC, NBC Sports Network, Bravo and Telemundo, to its coverage.

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