The first-ever Serie A game on the CBS network was a historic occasion for the American broadcast channel to celebrate its viewership of the Italian top flight. Saturday’s contest between newly promoted Parma and Italian giant AC Milan averaged an audience of 360,000 on the CBS network.
CBS loaded a major amount of promotion and coverage into this contest. The broadcaster sent a pitchside crew to Parma for coverage of this game. Additionally, this fixture was the first of a triple-header of soccer games on CBS on Saturday. Two NWSL games followed the Serie A contest.
The Serie A viewership for its first game on the CBS broadcast channel may not jump off the page compared to other games. The only other Serie A game ever to air on over-the-air television in the United States was from 2021. Then, ABC’s broadcast of Fiorentina and Atalanta pulled 225,000 viewers.
Saturday’s game in Italy between Parma and Milan kicked off at 12:30 p.m. ET, However, it faced stiff competition. In the English Premier League, the best game of the weekend was on at the same time. Aston Villa hosted Arsenal, which averaged 838,000 across USA Network and Telemundo. The English-language audience on USA Network for that game was 561,000.
At the same time, Borussia Dortmund hosted Frankfurt on ESPN+. Barcelona’s game against Athletic Club was also available on ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes. Viewership for the games in the Bundesliga and LaLiga are not available at the time of publication. However, there is no doubt that these games pulled potential eyes away from the CBS viewership of Parma versus Milan.
Of course, CBS had the advantage of a game that should have interested American audiences. Both Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah started.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.
