The English men's FA Cup match of Manchester United vs Liverpool, held on March 17, has set a new record for UK viewership in 2024. The game attracted a peak audience of 8.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched event across all television channels this year.
The quarter-final tie was not only an exciting clash between two football giants but also marked the highest viewership for an FA Cup quarter-final since 2018. This surge in interest is attributed to the thrilling extra time brought about by a late equalizer from Manchester United.
BBC iPlayer has also been on song in FA Cup matches this year
This impressive figure surpasses BBC’s coverage of the third-round fixture between Liverpool and Arsenal on January 7, which drew an audience of 7.6 million viewers - a record for a third-round tie at that time.
While the January match was streamed two million times on BBC iPlayer OTT service, ITV has yet to release its own streaming figures from its newer service, ITVX. This makes direct comparisons difficult when considering streaming audiences.
ITV had a strong week for other sports’ viewership as well
This historic match rounded off an exceptional week of sports viewership for free-to-air network ITV. The channel also broadcasted horse racing’s Cheltenham festival throughout the week and achieved high viewing figures with rugby’s Six Nations tournament over the previous weekend.
England's upset victory over Ireland in Six Nations' March 9 fixture recorded a peak viewership of 6.6 million - another high point for this competition's coverage on ITV.
Despite these successes, changes are looming as this will be one of the last seasons where FA Cup matches will be broadcasted freely on both BBC and ITV under their current rights agreement, which extends until the end of the 2024-25 season.
Post this period, pay-TV broadcaster TNT Sports has acquired the rights to cover the competition. In a recent sublicense deal with TNT Sports, BBC secured rights to air two FA Cup matches from each round up to quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final. This move edged out ITV in securing future coverage for this popular football competition.
