Final World Cup matches draw record TV audiences in Europe

Viewing audiences for the final matches of the 2006 World Cup in Germany exceeded expectations on the way to a record-breaking performance.

The high in-home audience figures are impressive given today's fragmented television market, and the fact that out-of-home viewing for the World Cup has become a phenomenon.

Italy's triumph over France in the final attracted a new tournament – and recent history – record audience for Italian television. An average audience of 23.9 million watched Italy win its fourth World Cup title.

The figure represented 84 percent of Italians watching television at that time. Italy's top-rated match during the 1998 tournament was 23.5 million. During the 2002 event, it was 23.7 million.

The record figure of 23.9 million does not include the large number of Italians who watched the matches at public viewing events, bars and restaurants. At Rome's ancient Circus Maximus, a reported 200,000 fans watched the final on three giant screens. In Milan, 150,000 fans watched the victory on large screens in the Piazza del Duomo.

French national broadcaster TF1 attracted 22.1 million viewers to its coverage of the final. That represented more than 80 percent of the available TV audience at that time, the highest audience share of any French coverage of this year's tournament.

France's defeat was watched by 800,000 more French viewers than tuned in to the 1998 World Cup title-match triumph over Brazil. This easily bests the ratings achieved by French television coverage of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.

The German national team's progress through the event drew a consistently high audience for the host nation, and ended with a new record for the tournament despite millions watching out-of-home at public sites.

Germany's 2-0 loss to Italy in the semifinals was watched live by 29.7 million German viewers at home, scoring a market share of 84.1 percent. Germany's previous high audience at this tournament was the 24.8 million who watched the host country defeat Argentina in the quarterfinals.

The figure also beats the German audience in the final at the 2002 World Cup when 26.5 million witnessed Germany lose against Brazil. It also surpasses the record in German football viewing of 28.66 million registered for the Germany-Argentina final in 1990, although this figure does not include the new German states in the east of the country.

Arguably more impressive, the 29.7 million audience also beats the highest German audience of 24.4 million for United States-Germany attained during the 1998 World Cup which, being staged in France, was aired at comparable times to this year's competition in Germany. These figures exclude the out of home viewing which ran into millions.

Germany's six matches at the 2006 World Cup scored a combined TV audience on German public service broadcasters ZDF and ARD of 142.1 million, which gives an average of 23.7 million per match. This represents a 45 percent increase in viewing over 2002.

Data from Spain and France shows that the 2006 final was one of the most popular with "neutral" viewers, those who watch a match that does not feature their national team.

In Spain, the match had a combined audience on Cuatro and La Sexta of 5.9 million and a market share of 41.7 percent. This Spanish audience was higher than both the "neutral" 2002 semifinals but not as high as the 2002 final.

In France, the 2006 finale was shown live on both C+ and TF1, and had a combined audience of 13.3 million and a market share of 57.2 percent. The figure is higher than any audience during the 2002 World Cup, where France was eliminated early.

The event was broadcast in more than 200 countries. Sponsorship Intelligence, a UK-based a research driven consultancy appointed by Infront and FIFA, has thus far collated overnight ratings in more than 40 markets. The full television report into all markets will be available later in the year.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.