BBC’s Cup Runneth Over With Arsenal Victory

A peak of 9.6 million viewers tuned into BBC1 last Saturday to watch Arsenal’s victory over Southampton, giving the channel its best FA Cup Final viewing figures for three years.

Unofficial overnight data from BARB show that the game, which kicked off in Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium at 3pm, was watched by an average of 8.6 million football fans, giving the BBC an impressive 54% share of the available audience.

Viewing figures for the FA Cup Final have dwindled over recent seasons with last year’s Arsenal-Chelsea game seeing audiences dip to around 6 million.

Greg Dyke is known to be keen to bring back major sporting events to the BBC and the rise in viewing figures may influence the Corporation’s bid for the next FA Cup and the England rights contract, which is due to be submitted by the end of May (see NewsLine Column: Moving The Goalposts On Football Rights).

The BBC’s coverage of the FA Cup quarter final between Arsenal and Chelsea was watched by more than a third of the viewing public, when it was broadcast back in March. The match, which ended in a 2-2 draw, attracted the largest audience for an FA Cup tie since the 1999 final when Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 at Wembley (see BBC Hails New Digital Channel A Success With Youth Audience).

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

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