U.S. win draws best men’s or women’s World Cup semi audience

The United States’ win over Germany is the most-watched men’s or women’s World Cup semifinal ever on American television. The 2-0 victory by the second-ranked U.S. over the No. 1 Germans on Tuesday night averaged 8.4 million viewers on Fox. The network said Wednesday the previous high was 5.9 million for the 2006 men’s semifinal between Germany and Italy. The audience was up 47 percent from the 5.7 million for the Americans’ quarterfinal against China on Friday night. And it was more than double the 3.4 million for the Americans’ semifinal in 2011, which was played during the day in the U.S. with the tournament in Germany. – AP