±«Óãtv

±«Óãtv celebrates impressive World Cup group stage viewing figures

Following the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup 2018 group stage, the last 15 days have produced some of the largest viewing figures - TV and online - in the last 10 years for the ±«Óãtv.

Published: 29 June 2018
People love the ±«Óãtv’s World Cup coverage - and we’re making sure they can tune in whenever and wherever they want.
— MAtthew Postgate

Millions across the country have tuned in to see England’s last-minute winner against Tunisia and their six-goal demolition of Panama, Ronaldo’s spectacular hat-trick against Spain, Germany’s demise and a Messi-inspired Argentina victory over Nigeria.

Highlights of the tournament so far:

  • Six of the top ten TV audiences have been on the ±«Óãtv, including; Tunisia v England (18.3m peak), England v Panama (14.1m), Portugal v Spain (10.4m), Argentina v Nigeria (9.9m), Germany v Mexico (9.5m) and Argentina v Croatia (9.2m)
  • Tunisia v England (18.3m) is the ±«Óãtv’s most watched TV event of 2018 with a further 3m online streaming requests
  • Total audience reach during the group stage for live matches is 36.8m; including World Cup highlights programmes this increases to 38.5m – compared to 36.23m at the same stage in Brazil 2014.
  • Huge online audiences across ±«Óãtv Sport and ±«Óãtv iPlayer saw a total of over 40.9m million live and on-demand requests for the ±«Óãtv’s group-stage matches.
  • England’s opener against Tunisia saw a record-breaking 3m live requests, with their second game against Panama (2.8m) becoming the second most live-streamed match ever (the previous live record was 2.2m for England v Wales during Euro 2016).
  • The top 5 most requested ±«Óãtv matches online across ±«Óãtv Sport and ±«Óãtv iPlayer live and on-demand were:

    1. Tunisia v England (3.22m)
    2. England v Panama (3.13m)
    3. Portugal v Spain (2.03m)
    4. Egypt v Uruguay (2.03m)
    5. South Korea v Germany (1.98m)
  • ±«Óãtv Sport online has received a total of 31.2m unique browsers so far compared with 32m for the whole of Brazil 2014, with the Player Rater receiving over 310k unique browsers. The ±«Óãtv Sport VR - FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 app has been downloaded a total of 325k times.
  • In 25 games during the group stages on the ±«Óãtv, an incredible 72 goals have been scored
  • The ±«Óãtv continues to provide 24/7 coverage of World Cup 2018 across TV, radio and online during the Round of 16 stage of the tournament:

    France v Argentina, Saturday, 3pm
    Spain v Russia, Sunday, 3pm
    Belgium v Japan, Monday, 7pm
    Sweden v Switzerland, Tuesday, 3pm

Steve Rudge, ±«Óãtv lead executive, football, says:“We’re delighted that we’ve been able to bring some of the most exciting games of the World Cup so far to ±«Óãtv audiences and that so many have tuned in! We now look forward to bringing viewers some of the biggest games of the next round including heavyweight clashes between France and Argentina and when the hosts Russia take on Spain in Moscow.”

Matthew Postgate, Chief Technology & Product Officer, says: “Alongside the ±«Óãtv’s world-class TV and Radio coverage, record numbers of fans are using our digital services to follow the World Cup. Millions are watching the big matches on their connected TV at home, while millions more are sneaking a peek on their work laptop or cramming in some games on their commute. People love the ±«Óãtv’s World Cup coverage - and we’re making sure they can tune in whenever and wherever they want.”

GS