ESPN's Audience up for Fiscal Year; U.S. Networks also Rise as a Group

Record Year for ESPNU; ESPN Deportes Shows Most Growth

ESPN's audience for the 2014 fiscal year rose six percent compared to 2013, according to Nielsen. The network averaged 1,012,000 viewers (P2+) throughout the year (October - September), compared to 959,000 a year ago. The leading factors behind the increase were the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Monday Night Football, college football bowl games and the NBA Playoffs.

In addition, ESPN's family of networks - ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Classic - enjoyed a collective four percent increase. The six U.S. networks averaged a combined 1,445,000 viewers, up from 1,387,000 for the 2013 fiscal year.

For ESPNU, it was a record year, with its audience rising seven percent to a new high.

Also, the network enjoying the largest year-over-year increase was ESPN Deportes. Its audience grew 14 percent.