WORLD CUP DRAWING ENORMOUS CROWD ON U.S. TV

If all of the viewers who have watched at least six minutes of the televised coverage of the World Cup thus far had tuned in at the same time, they would have produced an audience nearly as large as the record-breaking number who watched this year’s Super Bowl — one even larger than that of any previous Super Bowl, figures released by Nielsen Research indicated on Wednesday. According to Nielsen, 99.2 million viewers have tuned in to the telecasts on ABC, ESPN and Univision thus far. That compares with the record 106.5 million who watched this year’s Super Bowl, the 98.7 million who watched last year’s game, and the 97.4 million who watched the 2008 contest. In a statement, Stephen Master, Nielsen’s head of sports, said, “Even with the World Cup’s most crucial games still to come, a reach of 99.2 million viewers suggests that there’s a big American appetite for world class soccer.”