17 Million Tune In For England’s Football Triumph
17 million of the nation’s football fans tuned in to ITV1 last night to see England’s football team secure a 3-0 triumph over Switzerland’s national side in an all important first round Euro 2004 match.
The crucial match decided the future of England’s team in the Euro championships and drew an average audience of 14.2 million with a 68.5% share, 4.7 times the year to date average for the 17:00-19:00 slot. The match also drew 78.1% of the available male audience, a staggering 500% increase on the average male audience for that time slot.
While impressive, the figures failed to put last night’s match into record books. England’s crushing defeat against France last Sunday was recorded as one of the highest rating games on record with 21 million viewers, second only to their historic clash against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup Finals which attracted a peak of more than 23 million to BBC One (see 20.7 Million Watch England Lose Out To France).
Commenting on the game an ITV spokesperson said: “The figures are astonishing for a match that kicked off at 5pm. It shows the massive interest in England and Euro 2004”
ITV is experiencing a surge in advertising revenue following a high demand for commercial spots during its Euro 2004 coverage. It is understood that break junctions during last night’s match brought in around £6 million for the broadcaster, equivalent to three months of commercials during Coronation Street.
A number of high-profile motoring, finance, alcohol and sports manufacturers have been clambering to associate themselves with the tournament. ITV has already secured brands including Nike, Ford, Carlsberg and Guinness to premium slots during its coverage (see ITV Set To Score £6 Million From England Game).
| Viewing Figures For Euro 2000 Tournament | |||
| Game | Week Ending | Channel | Viewers (M) |
| Euro 2000: Holland vs Czech Republic | 11-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 8.03 |
| Euro 2000: Belguim vs Sweden | 11-Jun-00 | ITV | 7.33 |
| Euro 2000: France vs Denmark | 11-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.93 |
| Euro 2000: Portugal vs England | 18-Jun-00 | ITV | 14.94 |
| Euro 2000: England vs Germany | 18-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 10.91 |
| Euro 2000: Belgium vs Italy | 18-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 6.85 |
| Euro 2000: Denmark vs Holland | 18-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.32 |
| Euro 2000: England vs Germany | 18-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.08 |
| Euro 2000: Germany vs Romania | 18-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 6.04 |
| Euro 2000: England vs Romania | 25-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 14.56 |
| Euro 2000: Spain vs France | 25-Jun-00 | BBC1 | 7.73 |
| Euro 2000: France vs Holland | 25-Jun-00 | ITV | 7.22 |
| Euro 2000: Italy vs Romania | 25-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.7 |
| Euro 2000: Turkey vs France | 25-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.47 |
| Euro 2000: Holland vs Yugoslavia | 25-Jun-00 | ITV | 6.25 |
| Euro 2000 Portugal vs France | 02-Jul-00 | ITV | 9.7 |
| Euro 2000 Final: France vs Italy | 02-Jul-00 | BBC1 | 9.25 |
| Euro 2000 Italy vs Holland | 02-Jul-00 | BBC1 | 7.08 |
Audiences for the previous Euro 2000 championship peaked at just under the 15 million mark when England took on Portugal in the first round of the tournament. A further 14.5 million people tuned in the watch England take on Romania in its final group game.
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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