Over 5.5 million viewers tuned in to watch Sunday's Merseyside derby in the Premier League, breaking the UK audience record for the competition on Sky Sports, reports SportBusiness.

Viewership of the 7pm match between Liverpool and their local rivals Everton peaked at 5.5 million and averaged 5 million across the channels it was shown.

Pay-TV broadcaster Sky, the Premier League's main domestic broadcaster, elected to show the match free-to-air on its Pick digital terrestrial channel and basic-tier subscription channel Sky One in addition to its premium Sky Sports channels.

A 1.9 million average audience watched the game on the Pick channel, while 3.1 million viewers watched across the Sky Sports channels and Sky One.

The previous audience record for Sky Sports was registered during the 2012 Manchester derby which was also shown on free-to-air, attracting an audience of just over 4 million.