World Cup Fever Grips Widescreen Viewers
More than £1billion will be spent over the next fortnight by football crazy fans eager to see their heroes bring back the biggest prize in sport via state-of-the art equipment.
New research by Direct Line Home Insurance says that one in five football fans (18%) in Britain will be splashing out on over a million widescreen televisions (5%), satellite boxes (3%), and recordable DVD players (2%), with an average of £369 being spent by each technolology barmy soccer fan.
The research also, unsurprisingly, shows that women will be spending less on the world cup than men, with their £245 each just over half of the £461 the men will spend.
Simon Ziviani, spokesperson for Direct Line Home Insurance, said: “Once again, World Cup fever is set to sweep the land with millions of homeowners snapping up the latest home entertainment kit and inviting friends and relatives over to enjoy the games in surround-sound, full colour glory.”
| Percentage planning to follow England’s progress in the World Cup | Percentage buying Widescreen TVs in preparation for the FIFA World Cup | |
| NATIONAL | 55 | 5 |
| LONDON | 58 | 6 |
| MIDLANDS | 59 | 5 |
| EAST ANGLIA | 56 | 5 |
| WALES AND WEST | 43 | 4 |
| SOUTH WEST | 55 | – |
| SOUTH | 56 | 3 |
| LANCASHIRE | 65 | 2 |
| NORTH EAST | 68 | 6 |
| YORKSHIRE | 55 | 4 |
| CENTRAL SCOTLAND | 36 | 6 |
The summer football frenzy also looks set to ignite interest in high definition TV, with Sky’s service launching on Monday, and telewest already rolling out pictures in increased clarity.
The BBC has already announced plans to screen all of its World Cup coverage in high definition (see BBC To Screen World Cup And Wimbledon In HD), while Telewest recently secured the rights to screen ITV’s matches using the new technology (see ITV Telewest Deal Gives Clear View For Football Fans).
BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com