UEFA Euro 2016 Sets European Viewership Records

BRUSSELS: The recently concluded UEFA Euro 2016 soccer championship broke viewership records throughout Europe, becoming the most-watched TV program in tournament finalist countries France and Portugal, according to egta.

In France, the final beat historical records for the broadcaster that aired the game, which included the championship in its schedule for the first time, with 20.82 million viewers and a 72.9 percent audience share (85.7 percent for the 15 to 24 demo). Over in Portugal, 3.7 million viewers tuned in to the last game, a 78.1 percent audience share (79.9 percent for the 15 to 24 target group).

Viewership records were also set across Europe, with the Polish team’s final go against Portugal setting a record in the history of the telemetric survey in Poland, as 10.23 million fans watched the game (68.7 percent for total individuals and 72.21 percent for the 14 to 29 target group).

In Poland, 15.97 million viewers tuned into the Poland-Portugal game (86.6 percent share). There was a share of 90.85 percent for the young target group 14 to 29. Similarly, for the final game, 10.23 million fans watched the game (68.7 percent for the total individuals and 72.21 percent for the 14 to 29 target group). The result of last game of the Polish team (Poland-Portugal) was a record one in the history of the telemetric survey in Poland.

In Iceland, the game of the national team against England gathered 162,000 fans in front of their TV screens and beat an all-time record for a sporting event in that country. Despite the absence of the national team, 96,000 people watched the final (83.1 percent share of TV viewing on the channel Sjonvarp Simans).

In Germany, an average of 29.82 million fans watched La Mannschaft play against France (80.6 percent of audience share for 3+ and 89.2 percent for 14 to 29). The France-Portugal match further attracted an average of 18.8 million Germans, with an audience share of 59.7 percent for the total population and 64.6 percent for 14 to 29s.

Spain’s game against Croatia gathered 10.73 million fans in front of their TV screens (60.6 percent). Despite the absence of the national team, the final also performed well with 8.12 million viewers (54.5 percent audience share for the total population and 59.3 percent for the 15 to 29 age group).

The fully audited global figures for the matches will not be known for some time, but egta reports that broadcasters are already confident that the numbers will surpass the 299 million viewers worldwide who watched the Spain-Italy final in 2012.

Katty Roberfroid, the director general of egta, commented: “Euro 2016 once again proved the power of live TV, its capacity to bring people together and its emotional impact across generations. Broadcasters throughout Europe have reasons to be proud of the audience figures achieved during the championship. By combining the audiences for the 19 surveyed countries alone, we estimate that more than 110 million people in Europe watched the final match, and that even excludes those who enjoyed the game in bars, fan zones, giant open-air gatherings and elsewhere…that’s a European equivalent of the Super Bowl!”