BBC Retains Lead In Football Ratings Battle

Sixty-six per cent of football fans prefer the BBC’s coverage of key games, even without Des Lynam to smooth the process. In Saturday’s key clash between England and Germany, BBC1 pulled in almost twice as many viewers as its commercial rival ITV.

Overnight figures show that 17.9 million tuned into the game at home, of which 11.8m watched the action on BBC1, while 6.1m watched BBC-defector Des Lynam on ITV. The figures show an overall shift towards ITV’s coverage however: during the England v Germany game in Euro ’96 ITV took just 26.5% of viewers; this time its share had risen to 34.1%.

The BBC was celebrating its victory over ITV, however, having been defeated by its commercial rival in the Premier League bidding war last week (see The Game Isn’t Over Yet, Says Greg Dyke).

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