Int'l TV audiences dazzled by World Cup
World Cup TV dazzles
July 4, 2006
COLOGNE, Germany -- The 2006 soccer World Cup continues to dazzle international audiences as the tournament enters the semi-final stage.
The quarterfinal games played Friday and Saturday scored huge audiences in Europe, with World Cup host Germany leading the way.
An average of 24.8 million Germans, representing a staggering 86.1% market share, watched their team beat Argentina in a nail-biting game on Friday. That figure jumped to a peak of 28.7 million and 90% of the overall audience in the final minutes as Germany beat the South Americans in a penalty shoot-out.
For German pubweb ARD, it was the best result of the tournament so far and just behind the record average 26 million viewers who tuned in to watch Germany lose to Brazil in the World Cup final in 2002.
In the U.K. another game decided on penalties -- England vs. Portugal -- drew a peak audience of 19 million viewers, or an 84% share, on BBC1. On average, 16 million viewers, or 81%, sat through the entire, three-hour match just to watch England get knocked out of the tournament.
It was the third-highest rating game in the U.K. for this year's World Cup. Hot weather and a 4 p.m. BST kick-off cut into the audience figures as many Brits chose to watch the match outside or in the cooler enclave of their local pub.
France's surprise 1-0 win over tournament favorites Brazil was watched by 17.9 million people in France on leading commercial network TF1, according to figures from Gallic audience measurement body Mediametrie. This gave TF1 a market share of 73.1%, its best yet for this world cup tournament.
The audience peaked towards the end of the clash, when almost 22 million people were watching for a market share of nearly 90%.
France's clash with Spain in the previous round of the competition drew a higher audience at 19.6 million, though the audience market share was slightly less than for France-Brazil. The Spanish game represents the best audience figures of the year for TF1 and the fifth biggest audience since the current ratings measurement system began in France.
Italy's July 1 victory over Ukraine attracted 20.9 million local viewers, for a market share of 76.4% for TV station Raiuno. That's the highest market share so far this World Cup, but about the same number of total viewers as Italy's opening match against Ghana.
It was slightly higher both in terms of market share and absolute numbers than Italy's other two games (against the U.S. and Czech Republic, respectively).
At its highest point, the Italy-Ukraine game attracted 22.7 million viewers, or 82.1% of the available market.
The figures are less than the all-time sporting record of 27.5 million viewers and an 87.9% market share from part of the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Argentina (Italy lost that game). But the 82.1% figure at the peak of the Italy-Ukraine match is about equal to the second-highest rating ever for a sporting event.
Raiuno, part of state broadcaster RAI, has broadcast all the games this year. The ratings have helped make Raiuno, normally Italy's third largest network, the top-rated network on the days of World Cup games.
Overall viewing figures for this World Cup are already up some 8% from 2002's record levels and ratings are expected to climb even higher in the semi-final and final matches this week.
Charles Masters in Paris and Eric J. Lyman in Rome contributed to this report
The quarterfinal games played Friday and Saturday scored huge audiences in Europe, with World Cup host Germany leading the way.
An average of 24.8 million Germans, representing a staggering 86.1% market share, watched their team beat Argentina in a nail-biting game on Friday. That figure jumped to a peak of 28.7 million and 90% of the overall audience in the final minutes as Germany beat the South Americans in a penalty shoot-out.
For German pubweb ARD, it was the best result of the tournament so far and just behind the record average 26 million viewers who tuned in to watch Germany lose to Brazil in the World Cup final in 2002.
In the U.K. another game decided on penalties -- England vs. Portugal -- drew a peak audience of 19 million viewers, or an 84% share, on BBC1. On average, 16 million viewers, or 81%, sat through the entire, three-hour match just to watch England get knocked out of the tournament.
It was the third-highest rating game in the U.K. for this year's World Cup. Hot weather and a 4 p.m. BST kick-off cut into the audience figures as many Brits chose to watch the match outside or in the cooler enclave of their local pub.
France's surprise 1-0 win over tournament favorites Brazil was watched by 17.9 million people in France on leading commercial network TF1, according to figures from Gallic audience measurement body Mediametrie. This gave TF1 a market share of 73.1%, its best yet for this world cup tournament.
The audience peaked towards the end of the clash, when almost 22 million people were watching for a market share of nearly 90%.
France's clash with Spain in the previous round of the competition drew a higher audience at 19.6 million, though the audience market share was slightly less than for France-Brazil. The Spanish game represents the best audience figures of the year for TF1 and the fifth biggest audience since the current ratings measurement system began in France.
Italy's July 1 victory over Ukraine attracted 20.9 million local viewers, for a market share of 76.4% for TV station Raiuno. That's the highest market share so far this World Cup, but about the same number of total viewers as Italy's opening match against Ghana.
It was slightly higher both in terms of market share and absolute numbers than Italy's other two games (against the U.S. and Czech Republic, respectively).
At its highest point, the Italy-Ukraine game attracted 22.7 million viewers, or 82.1% of the available market.
The figures are less than the all-time sporting record of 27.5 million viewers and an 87.9% market share from part of the 1990 World Cup semi-final against Argentina (Italy lost that game). But the 82.1% figure at the peak of the Italy-Ukraine match is about equal to the second-highest rating ever for a sporting event.
Raiuno, part of state broadcaster RAI, has broadcast all the games this year. The ratings have helped make Raiuno, normally Italy's third largest network, the top-rated network on the days of World Cup games.
Overall viewing figures for this World Cup are already up some 8% from 2002's record levels and ratings are expected to climb even higher in the semi-final and final matches this week.
Charles Masters in Paris and Eric J. Lyman in Rome contributed to this report
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