Record European Viewership for World Cup in Group Stage

BRUSSELS: A group of organizations representing the interests of broadcasters across Europe, including the Association of Commercial Television (ACT) and Thinkbox, have released preliminary research on audiences for the World Cup group stage, with viewing records being broken in multiple markets and a growing interest in second-screen applications.

In Croatia, 81.3 percent of viewers tuned in for the opening game against Brazil. That game was also the most-watched opening match in at least 12 years in the U.K., having been seen by 11.2 million people.

Belgium-South Korea was the most-watched football game in Belgian TV history, reaching 82.8 percent of Flemish fans and 82.1 percent of French-speaking Belgians.

In the U.K., 20 million people tuned in for the England-Uruguay game, and yesterday in Germany 27.3 million watched their national team defeat the U.S. The England-Italy game garnered 15.3 million Italian viewers, 82 percent of the viewing audience.

In Greece, the match against the Ivory Coast registered an 81.3-percent peak share. In Spain, meanwhile, 68.5 percent of viewers saw the team's defeat at the hands of the Netherlands. Dutch viewers heavily tuned in to the Chile game—an 88.4-percent share of the audience.

Strong viewership was also seen in markets with teams that didn't qualify, such as Sweden, where 2.6 million people (48 percent) watched the Brazil-Mexico game.

The research was released by ACT, egta, SNPTV, SPOT, Thinkbox, Wirkstoff TV and ABMA.