The summer months usually see ho-hum prime-time viewership across the major broadcast networks, but for Comcast-owned Telemundo, the ratings have been red hot.
Over the past four weeks, Telemundo’s coverage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup men’s soccer tournament in prime-time has allowed the network to capture the crown as the most-watched Spanish-language broadcaster in the country, according to an analysis of Nielsen ratings data.
From June 16 to July 12, Telemundo saw an average of at least 3.29 million viewers in prime-time, Nielsen data showed. During that same four-week period, Telemundo was the second most-watched broadcast network in America during prime-time hours, posting stronger viewership that co-owned NBC (2.31 million viewers), ABC (2.26 million viewers) and CBS (2.13 million viewers).
Telemundo’s prime-time audience was significantly higher than Univision, which is typically the most-watched network outside the FIFA World Cup tournament. Univision attracted an average weekly audience of 820,000 viewers during the four-week measurement period, according to Nielsen data.
Expanding out to five weeks, Telemundo ranked third among all broadcast networks and first among Spanish-language networks in prime-time, attracting an average audience of 3.18 million viewers from June 8 to July 12, Nielsen’s data showed. Univision’s average weekly audience was 837,800 in prime-time. The FIFA World Cup men’s soccer tournament started June 15.
Strong interest in the FIFA World Cup tournament has also boosted the ratings of Telemundo’s national news program: During Nielsen’s most-recent measurement week that ended July 12, “Noticias Telemundo” grabbed 1.44 million viewers, which followed FIFA World Cup games on certain days. By comparison, Univision’s flagship news program “Noticiero N+ Univision” attracted 1.26 million viewers during the week.
Telemundo shares domestic broadcast rights to the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament with Fox, which airs games with English-language commentary. The games also helped Fox climb to the top of the weekly prime-time ratings, according to data viewed by The Desk.
Comcast is in the process of spinning out Telemundo’s parent company NBC Universal into a separate business. Univision is owned by international media conglomerate Televisa-Univision.
