England’s Rugby World Cup Victory Watched By 14.5 Million
A peak of 14.5 million viewers tuned in to ITV1 on Saturday morning to watch England make history by defeating Australia to win the Rugby World Cup for the first time.
Audiences reached their peak in the dying moments of the match, when a record 82% of the viewing public watched Jonny Wilkinson kick the dramatic drop goal which secured England’s victory by 20 points to 17.
An average of 12.3 million sports fans tuned in for the entire game, which secured an impressive 77% share of viewing for ITV1, giving it the second highest audience ever recorded for an international rugby match in the UK.
The highest figure ever recorded was the 13.6 million average that watched the 1991 Rugby World Cup on ITV1 when Australia beat England at Twickenham.
Commenting on the figures, Brian Barwick, ITV’s controller of sport, said: “We are delighted so many millions of viewers were able to share such a phenomenal sporting event live on ITV. It was spell-binding television with a sensational climax and it capped seven weeks of brilliant live rugby action.”
He added: “The event has been a huge success for ITV in terms of the viewing figures, the nature of the audience that has watched the output and the production itself.”
Reports suggest that advertisers paid up to £300,000 for a 30-second slot during half-time of Saturday’s game. Interest in sporting heroes such as Jonny Wilkinson and Martin Johnson is understood to have pushed up prices and could have helped ITV1 to earn as much as £30 million from the match.
The Rugby World Cup has proved something of a ratings winner for ITV1, despite the early morning kick-off times of most of the games. Last week a peak of almost 9 million viewers tuned into the channel to watch England defeat France to secure their place the final (see Almost 9 Million See England Rugby Team Beat France).
ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com
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