England’s heartbreaking defeat to France on Saturday became the most-viewed UK TV broadcast of the year so far, peaking with 21.3M viewers on ITV1.
22.11.2022 - 20:37 / deadline.com
Sunday’s 2022 World Cup opener between hosts Qatar and Ecuador drew an average of about 3.2M multi-platform viewers for Fox Sports.
The game, which ended 2-0 to Ecuador, aired on FS1 and on the Fox Sports App, kicking off at 8am PT/11am ET. On the linear channel alone, an average of about 3.1M people tuned in for the match, and the game reached its peak with 3.5M viewers.
On average, FS1’s telecast was up 78% compared to the audience for 2018’s opener between Russia and Saudi Arabia (1.7M) and 136% compared to the 2018 Group Stage average from Russia (1.3M).
Telemundo Deportes’ Spanish-language managed to bring in another 4M viewers across Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo Deportes’ digital platforms. That’s a 164% increase from the Spanish-language viewership of 2018’s opener between Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Viewership also increased for the Qatar vs. Ecuador match on BBC, despite the opening ceremony being overshadowed on the main channel by a discussion about the human and environmental costs of the World Cup. The match still managed an impressive peak of 8M total viewers
The match was a hugely disappointing one for a Qatari side who have been preparing for this tournament ever since it was awarded in 2010, and by the end spectators could be seen leaving the Al Bayt Stadium in droves.
The U.S. kicked off its campaign vs. Wales on Monday, which ended in a 1-1 tie. That match was watched by 11.5M on BBC. Numbers for the U.S. viewership of the match are expected either Tuesday or Wednesday.
England’s heartbreaking defeat to France on Saturday became the most-viewed UK TV broadcast of the year so far, peaking with 21.3M viewers on ITV1.
The shocking death of soccer writer Grant Wahl has prompted an outpouring of tributes. The 48-year-old Wahl died on Friday under murky circumstances while covering the World Cup in Qatar.
England’s comfortable second round victory over Senegal last night was watched by a peak of nearly 20M viewers on ITV, becoming the most-viewed of the Qatar World Cup 2022 tournament so far in the UK.
With another winning performance at the World Cup, this time defeating Poland in the round of 16, the French national football team also led broadcaster TF1 to yet another ratings record for the year. An average 14.3 million viewers tuned in to see Les Bleus notch a 3-1 victory on Sunday, from the 4pm hour local time. This is the best score for all channels across 2022 and since July 2021. The audience share was 68.9%.
The U.S. advanced to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday after a 1-0 victory over Iran, which drew an impressive average of 12M viewers on Fox.
England’s emphatic 3-0 victory over local rival Wales in the Qatar World Cup was seen by a peak UK audience of 18.7M.
Wales take on England in the final round of fixtures in Group B tonight, knowing that even a victory against their border rivals may not be enough to see them progress to the last 16.
France’s 2-1 victory in the World Cup group stage over Denmark on Saturday evening drew an average 11.6 million viewers to TF1 from the 5PM hour local time. This is second best audience score of the year for all programs and across all channels in the Hexagon. Upon entering the tournament last week, Les Bleus set a record for viewership in 2022, and since June 2021.
The United States went head-to-head with England on Friday in a historic World Cup match that drew 15.4M viewers for Fox.
Despite being plagued by injuries that knocked out some key players in past weeks, France entered the World Cup with a bang on Tuesday — and scored a ratings victory for TF1 at the same time. At home, an average 12.53 million viewers tuned in from 8 PM local time to watch Les Bleus defeat Australia’s Socceroos 4-1.
The United States began its 2022 World Cup campaign on Monday against Wales, scoring nearly 12M viewers across Fox and Telemundo.
England’s fiery World Cup opener against Iran, which ended 6-2, was watched by a peak of 8M viewers yesterday lunchtime in the UK. The peak was similar to that of host Qatar’s opener with Ecuador.