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World Cup analysis: England’s unexpectedly prolonged stay in the tournament boosted ratings for both channels
Fifa World Cup: a combined 7.3 million watched the final across BBC1 and ITV
The Fifa World Cup dominated TV viewing this summer and offered, albeit briefly, a sense of cohesion during these anxious times.
For 32 days, television became the place to watch excitement as it happened, generating much talk and a general, happy displacement - some might say time off from the gloom of the UK’s current political quagmire. For the country’s two top channels, it boosted share and ITV’s cash-register was probably ringing its bells off.
Over the tournament’s first 14 days, when there’s usually between two and three games for the channels to choose from, total TV viewing for individuals grew 1.2% between 6am and 6pm, compared with the same period last year, and 2.5% between 6pm and 11pm.
Reasonable increases but, perhaps unsurprisingly, male audiences saw more marked growth - all helped no end by England’s unlikely progress.
Viewing among 16-34 men grew by 19.3% between 6am and 6pm and by 25% between 6pm and 11pm. ABC1 men saw 14.5% and 12.5% spikes respectively.
Across the entire tournament, total TV viewing among 16-34 men grew by 7.9% and 22.3%, while ABC1 men saw 9.6% and 10.6% increases.
Top 30 Programmes During The World Cup 14 June - 15 July 2018 Title Date Day Start Time VIEWERS (M) Share
1 WORLD CUP: COLOMBIA V ENGLAND 04/07/2018 TUE 18:15 17.28 67.42%
2 WORLD CUP: ENGLAND V BELGIUM 29/06/2018 THU 18:15 13.71 61.42%
3 WORLD CUP: CROATIA V ENGLAND 12/07/2018 WED 18:15:00 13.19 57.32%
4 MOTD LIVE: TUNISIA V ENGLAND 18/06/2018 MON 18:15 11.98 50.29%
5 MOTD LIVE: SWEDEN V ENGLAND 07/07/2018 SAT 14:00 11.44 67.33%
6 MOTD LIVE: FRANCE V BELGIUM 10/07/2018 TUE 18:29 8.92 42.07%
7 MOTD LIVE: ENGLAND V PANAMA 24/06/2018 SUN 13:40 8.63 66.36%
8 WORLD CUP: RUSSIA V CROATIA 07/07/2018 SAT 18:00 8.17 45.51%
9 WORLD CUP: CROATIA V DENMARK 01/07/2018 SUN 18:30 7.89 37.16%
10 WORLD CUP: BRAZIL V SWITZERLAND 17/06/2018 SUN 18:30 7.83 36.38%
11 WORLD CUP: GERMANY V SWEDEN 23/06/2018 SAT 18:30 7.72 44.67%
12 CORONATION STREET 09/07/2018 MON 19:30 7.70 40.89%
13 MOTD LIVE: BELGIUM V JAPAN 02/07/2018 MON...