Major League Soccer programming on NBC Sports Network may not be breaking television ratings records during the first month and a half of the 2012 season. "MLS on NBC" is still in its infancy, but I don't think it's too early to call the experiment a success for everybody involved.

This past Saturday's Philadelphia Union vs. Columbus Crew game was the only nationally televised MLS contest to air on an English language channel during the weekend. Coverage of the match began at 3:30 pm on a weekend afternoon when many of us on the east coast had an opportunity to head outside and enjoy the sunny skies and warm temperatures. According to the Jonathan Tannenwald of Philly.com, average viewership during the actual contest was 139,000. According to the NBCSportsPR Twitter page, average viewership for MLS on FOX Soccer during the 2011 regular season was 68,000.

Before the start of the 2012 MLS season, I spoke with two "in the know" individuals regarding the MLS on NBC Sports arrangement. Both told me that the "100k" mark for average viewers was the unspoken over/under number. Anything over 100,000 would be considered a win for both the network and the league, and could also result in more games airing on both NBC Sports and NBC in later years. Thus far, MLS on NBC is averaging (according to NBCSportsPR) 106,000 viewers, an increase of 56 percent from MLS on FSC during 2011.

The average viewership for this past Saturday's game is actually more impressive when you really break it down. Philadelphia and Columbus are two teams currently in the bottom half of overall MLS standings. To say it nicely, Philly vs. Columbus doesn't exactly scream "stop what you're doing and chance the station to NBC Sports Network now!" The MLS game also had direct competition on two stations. Barcelona were taking on Levante from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm, and that game was airing on both ESPN and ESPN Deportes. According to the previously mentioned Philly.com article, nearly 300,000 viewers watched that game via ESPN, while another 489,000 viewers watched the ESPN Deportes feed.

In short, an MLS on NBC Sports match featuring two bottom-half-of-the-table sides did just fine when competing with arguably the biggest and most popular club on the planet. Nobody over at NBC Sports is sipping champagne because of these numbers, but the viewership stats of the past month and a half do give all of us in the MLS community a reason to smile just a bit. Diehard MLS supporters also continue to praise NBC Sports for how the channel has presented matches. One big reason for this is play-by-play man Arlo White, who is slowly but surely becoming the Ian Darke of MLS (heard it here, first).

As we've learned before from a certain king, Rome wasn't built in one day. NBC Sports is only going to get better when it comes to presenting MLS action. I'm not yet sure how I feel about the music the station uses during league contests, but it may grow on me.

The theme could use more Faith Hill, though.