ITV Wins Big With Football, As Scottish Fans Tune In For Record-Breaking Euros Defeat
15.06.2024 - 14:25
/ deadline.com
The European Football Cup tournament has got off to a cracking start – for broadcasters at least – with Friday evening’s opening match between host nation Germany and Scotland watched by an average of 5.8million viewers, with a peak of 9.8million.
The UK’s two main broadcasters ITV and BBC are sharing the spoils of the month-long competition, with Friday’s opening match being shown by ITV.
This primetime audience was a big jump on that for the opening match for the last Euros. When the BBC aired Turkey vs Italy in 2021 (Euro 2020 delayed by a year due to Covid), its average audience was 5.2m with a 6.9m peak.
While the ardent Scottish football fanbase will have significantly boosted Friday evening’s viewing figures, ITV’s smiles won’t reach Scotland today, still recovering from being on the wrong side of the biggest-ever win for the host in the European Championships and also the biggest margin for victory (make that defeat if you’re Scotland) for any side in the opening match of the tournament.
Scottish supporters – including the most passionate of fans ‘the Tartan Army’ who travel across the world to support their team, dressed in kilts and often playing bagpipes – have travelled in their tens of thousands to the tournament, with millions more tuning in at home, and many were not happy with ITV’s coverage of the match.
The Daily Mirror newspaper, like several others, reports on the most indignant of armchair fans, who felt the broadcaster’s pre-match coverage focused insufficiently on Scotland, particularly by including an interview with England manager Gareth Southgate (the football rivalry between the two countries is centuries-old and unyielding) – despite the English side not set to play until Sunday.
Tony Watt,
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