Brazil V Oz Grabs Weekend’s Best Viewing Figures
Australia’s gallant 2-0 defeat to current cup holders Brazil was the most watched World Cup match of the weekend, netting a whopping eight-and-a-half million adult viewers at its peak for ITV1.
Almost half of television-watching adults were glued to the exhilarating match on Sunday evening, as the boys in blue held a decidedly lacklustre Brazil at 0-0 at halftime.
The stalwart Aussies set up many chances, putting in a heroic performance, but stealth was the missing ingredient. In the second half, Brazil’s magic kicked in and Oz was done for.
More than two-and-a-half million ABC1 Men or 66% that were watching telly at the time, saw Australia’s squad fight to the bitter end, more than for ITV1’s coverage of Japan v Croatia’s 0-0 draw or BBC1’s coverage of France and South Korea’s 1-1 draw.
The USA’s hard-fought 1-1 draw with Italy pulled an average of almost five million adult viewers to ITV1 on Saturday night, or a viewing share of 29%. As the Italians tried to elbow their way to the top, BBC1’s Casualty battled the big match, grabbing a 32% share of the viewing audience, or almost five-and-a-half million adult viewers. Channel 4’s Big Brother managed a 16% share of adult viewers between 9pm and 10pm, or almost three million adults.
Earlier in the day, Ghana’s surprise 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic peaked at more than four-and-a-half million adult viewers or a 30.5% share of the adult TV viewing population between 4.30pm and 7pm.
Channel 4’s Deal Or No Deal at five o’clock managed just over two million adult viewers or 21% at the time, while BBC1’s Weakest Link bagged an almost 20% share, or almost two-and-a-half million adult viewers between 6pm and 7pm.
ABC1 Men enjoyed a Saturday smorgasbord of footy, with more than 50% of them between 2pm and 4pm watching Portugal beat Iran 2-0, a peak of one-and-a-half million (44%) seeing Ghana’s triumph, and a peak of almost two million (more than 42%) catching the bloodbath of Italy v USA.
Argentina’s 6-0 thrashing of Serbia and Montenegro on Friday afternoon managed to thrill an average of almost two million TV watching adults, while Holland’s top form 2-1 success over the Ivory Coast nabbed a peak of more than four-and-a-half million adult viewers (30%).
ITV1’s coverage of Mexico’s 0-0 draw with Angola failed to compete with an hour-long Eastenders followed by New Tricks on BBC1, or Channel 4’s Big Brother‘s live eviction between 8.30pm and 9.30pm.
‘Stenders had a peak of more than six million adult viewers (33%), with New Tricks grabbing more than four-and-a-half million (24%), and BB getting a peak of more than four-and-a-half million or 21%, while the footy on ITV1 managed an average of three-and-a-half million adult viewers or a more than 19% share of the adult TV viewing population.
ABC1 Men also enjoyed the Friday football feast, with an average of more than one million tuning in for the Mexico v Angola match on ITV1.
Overnight data is available each morning in mediatel.co.uk’s TV Database, with all BARB registered subscribers able to view reports for terrestrial networks, ITV2 and Sky One.
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