Telemundo
NBCUniversal's Spanish-language broadcaster; holds US World Cup 2026 Spanish-language rights.
Telemundo, NBCUniversal's Spanish-language broadcaster, carried all 104 World Cup matches and added 23.9 million viewers to the 20 July 2026 final, part of NBCU's 77.2 billion Spanish-language viewing minutes across the tournament.
Last refreshed: 28 July 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Timeline for Telemundo
Mentioned in: Comcast puts $440m on the World Cup
2026 FIFA World CupPublished a 23.9 million combined linear and streaming audience figure
2026 FIFA World Cup: Fox claims a US soccer ratings recordCarried Spanish-language linear and streaming coverage counted in NBCUniversal's total
2026 FIFA World Cup: NBCU counts the tournament in minutesAveraged 8.7 million viewers on its linear broadcast of the final
2026 FIFA World Cup: Nielsen's 22.6m covers two platforms, not AmericaMentioned in: BBC took 64% of UK viewing for the final
2026 FIFA World CupBackground
Telemundo is NBCUniversal's Spanish-language US broadcast network, based in Miami, founded in 1984 and folded into NBCUniversal in 2001. It reaches Hispanic audiences across the United States, Puerto Rico and Latin America.
For the 2026 World Cup, Telemundo held the Spanish-language US rights to all 104 matches alongside FOX's separate English-language deal, spread across Telemundo, Universo and Peacock. Its coverage also inherited Lenovo's AI broadcast stack when the tournament opened on 2 June, the largest AI-native live-broadcast deployment yet staged .
Telemundo sets a viewing-minutes record
NBCUniversal reported 77.2 billion Spanish-language viewing minutes across the 104 matches on Telemundo, Universo and Peacock, 79% higher than the 43.2 billion minutes recorded for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments combined, with streaming accounting for 48% of the audience . For the 20 July final alone, Telemundo's own coverage added 23.9 million viewers.
A stricter Nielsen-only count of Telemundo and Peacock together put the final's audience closer to 22.6 million rather than the higher combined totals some outlets reported alongside FOX's separate English-language figure . Either way, the tournament confirmed Telemundo's Spanish-language coverage as NBCUniversal's biggest sporting audience driver of the cycle.
Reference
When did Telemundo last broadcast the World Cup before 2026?
Who owns Telemundo?
What channel is the 2026 World Cup on in Spanish in the United States?
Does the Telemundo audience figure include Fox Sports viewers?
How many people watched the World Cup final on Telemundo?
Is Telemundo using AI for World Cup coverage in 2026?
