BBC Shoots Wide With FA Cup Final Coverage

Viewing figures for the BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup final have reportedly hit a record low with just 6.3 million people tuning in to watch Arsenal play Chelsea on Saturday.

The match, which was shown as part of a five and a half hour programme on BBC1, drew an average of 6.3m viewers, around half the number who watched the event last time it was shown exclusively by the BBC in 1997.

A spokeswoman for the BBC defended the viewing figures saying: “BBC1’s share of viewing stood at 52% throughout the game and the audience peaked at 7.4 million at around 4.30pm when Freddie Ljungberg scored for Arsenal.”

She added: “The lower than expected audience levels could be due to the fact that it was a May Bank Holiday and a lot of people were out enjoying the fine weather. However, this is the first year of our new coverage of the competition and we are pleased with how it is working.”

The BBC is thought to have paid around £200m for exclusive terrestrial TV rights to the competition along with the England team’s home international matches.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk

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