BBC1 has established only a slender lead over ITV1 in the battle for World Cup viewers.
BBC1 has established only a slender lead over ITV1 in the battle for World Cup viewers.

BBC1 has managed to attract an average audience of 5.9 million (39%) for the live coverage of the games it has shown compared with 5.8 million (36%) for ITV1's coverage.

The table below covers all the matches shown on the two main terrestrial channels between 9 June and 28 June inclusive. Inevitably England's games have been a runaway hit with viewers despite criticism of the national side's lack of spark on the pitch.

England's 1-0 victory over Ecuador in the last 16 stage of the competition on Sunday (25 June) was supported by 16.2 million who watched the game from 4pm on BBC1. The afternoon kick-off helped the corporation secure a mammoth average share of 80% and the audience peaked at 18.2 million (81.7%) in the final 15 minutes of the game.

The entire coverage - between 3.30pm and 6pm - brought in an impressive 14.2 million (74.5%) and it drew a strong share - 80.6% - of ABC1s who were watching TV at the time. It also attracted a 78.9% share of male viewers.

ITV1's coverage of England's 2-2 draw against Sweden on 20 June has been the biggest attraction for TV viewers so far in the tournament with a match average of 18.8 million (69%) which began at the more viewer-friendly time of 8pm. The game peaked in the final 15 minutes with 19.9 million (70.2%).

While there are impressive figures for both the main terrestrial channels, none of England's games has yet reached the heights of the Euro 2004 competition when England played Portugal. On BBC1 in June the game, which ended in a penalty shoot-out, attracted 20.1 million (72.5%) over almost three hours from 7.45pm. Audiences for the current tournament are likely to rise as long as England continues to progress through to the latter stages.

In the last World Cup, which was held in Japan and South Korea in 2002, the most watched game was England's group stage match against Sweden which attracted 12.6 million (84%) in spite of the 10.30am start time.

In this World Cup games that haven't featured England have also provided bumper ratings for the two main terrestrial channels. ITV1's coverage of Portugal's 1-0 win over the Netherlands (25 June), a game marred by four sendings-off and numerous yellow cards, drew 9.3 million (39%) from 8pm with the entire coverage taking 8.9 million (38.4%).

BBC1's match between Brazil and Croatia on 13 June bought in a substantial 9.4 million (41%) from 8pm with the entire coverage netting the corporation 8.4 million (36.4%).

Over the competition so far, BBC1's non-England matches have attracted an average of 5.2 million (35.1%) while ITV1's have gained 4.6 million (32.2%).

Matches featuring the more obscure teams have failed to ignite the interest of the viewing public. ITV1's least watched coverage was Ecuador's 3-0 win over Costa Rica on 15 June with a lowly 1.6 million (26.6%) watching the entire coverage from 1.30pm. The figure is up on ITV1's slot average for that time of 900,000 (12.7%). Spain's 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on BBC1 on 23 June didn't fare much better at 2.45pm with just 1.8 million (25.2%), more than BBC1's current slot average of 1.5 million (15.8%).

The official audience figures from Barb only measure at home viewing and do not take into account all those fans who have watched the World Cup games in a pub or bar.

Match

Score

Channel

Date

Match times

Match Audience (m)

Match Share (%)

Sweden v England

2:2

ITV1

20/06/2006

20:00-21:45

18.7

68.8

England v Ecuador

1:0

BBC1

25/06/2006

16:00-17:45

16.2

80.0

England v Trinidad & Tobago

2:0

ITV1

15/06/2006

17:00-18:45

13.9

73.2

England v Paraguay

1:0

BBC1

10/06/2006

14:00-15:45

11.9

84.0

Brazil v Croatia

1:0

BBC1

13/06/2006

20:00-21:45

9.6

40.5

Portugal v Netherlands

1:0

ITV1

25/06/2006

20:00-21:55

9.3

39.3

Spain v Portugal

1:3

ITV1

27/06/2006

20:00-21:45

9.0

40.0

Netherlands v Argentina

0:0

ITV1

21/06/2006

20:00-21:45

8.7

40.0

Argentina v Mexico

2:1

BBC1

24/06/2006

20:00-22:30

8.4

42.8

Germany v Poland

1:0

BBC1

14/06/2006

20:00-21:45

8.0

36.1

Brazil v Australia

2:0

ITV1

18/06/2006

17:00-18:45

8.0

51.1

Japan v Brazil

1:4

BBC1

22/06/2006

20:00-21:45

7.8

35.2

Switzerland v Ukraine

0:3

BBC1

26/06/2006

20:00-22:40

7.5

33.7

Spain v Tunisia

3:1

BBC1

19/06/2006

20:00-21:45

7.2

31.9

Italy v Ghana

2:1

BBC1

12/06/2006

20:00-21:45

6.7

31.0

Sweden v Paraguay

1:0

ITV1

15/06/2006

20:00-21:45

6.4

30.7

France v South Korea

1:1

BBC1

18/06/2006

20:00-21:45

6.1

26.4

Angola v Portugal

0:1

ITV1

11/06/2006

20:00-21:45

6.0

28.3

Togo v France

0:2

BBC1

23/06/2006

20:00-21:45

5.8

28.9

Italy v USA

1:1

ITV1

17/06/2006

20:00-21:45

5.7

30.8

Germany v Costa Rica

4:2

BBC1

09/06/2006

17:00-18:45

5.6

42.7

Poland v Ecuador

0:2

ITV1

09/06/2006

20:00-21:45

5.6

28.7

Germany v Sweden

2:0

BBC1

24/06/2006

16:00-17:45

5.5

49.6

Argentina v Ivory Coast

2:1

ITV1

10/06/2006

20:00-21:45

5.4

28.9

France v Switzerland

0:0

BBC1

13/06/2006

17:00-18:45

5.0

35.6

Italy v Australia

1:0

ITV1

26/06/2006

16:00-17:45

4.7

38.6

Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden

0:0

ITV1

10/06/2006

17:00-18:45

4.5

37.5

Mexico v Iran

3:1

BBC1

11/06/2006

17:00-18:45

4.4

35.1

Serbia & Montenegro v Netherlands

0:1

BBC1

11/06/2006

14:00-15:45

4.2

46.2

USA v Czech Republic

0:3

BBC1

12/06/2006

17:00-18:45

4.2

31.6

Netherlands v Ivory Coast

2:1

ITV1

16/06/2006

17:00-18:45

4.0

31.3

Brazil v Ghana

3:0

ITV1

27/06/2006

16:00-17:45

4.0

34.0

Mexico v Angola

0:0

ITV1

16/06/2006

20:00-21:45

3.9

19.7

Czech Republic v Ghana

0:2

ITV1

17/06/2006

17:00-18:45

3.8

31.6

Saudi Arabia v Ukraine

0:4

ITV1

19/06/2006

17:00-18:45

3.6

24.5

Japan v Croatia

0:0

ITV1

18/06/2006

14:00-15:45

3.5

34.8

Tunisia v Saudi Arabia

2:2

ITV1

14/06/2006

17:00-18:45

3.2

24.3

Portugal v Iran

2:0

BBC1

17/06/2006

14:00-15:45

3.1

39.4

Ecuador v Germany

0:3

ITV1

20/06/2006

15:00-16:45

2.7

32.4

Czech Republic v Italy (* Ghana v USA on Interactive)

0:2 (*2:1)

BBC1

22/06/2006

15:00-16:45

2.3

28.5

Togo v Switzerland

0:2

BBC1

19/06/2006

14:00-15:45

2.3

36.1

Australia v Japan

3:1

ITV1

12/06/2006

14:00-15:45

2.3

33.5

Portugal v Mexico

2:1

ITV1

21/06/2006

15:00-16:45

2.2

27.9

South Korea v Togo

2:1

BBC1

13/06/2006

14:00-15:45

2.2

35.4

Argentina v Serbia & Montenegro

6:0

BBC1

16/06/2006

14:00-15:45

2.0

32.3

Spain v Ukraine

4:0

ITV1

14/06/2006

14:00-15:45

1.9

29.5

Saudi Arabia v Spain (* Ukraine v Tunisia on interactive)

0:1 (*1:0)

BBC1

23/06/2006

15:00-16:45

1.9

26.4

Ecuador v Costa Rica

3:0

ITV1

15/06/2006

14:00-15:45

1.8

29.8

Croatia v Australia

2:2

BBC3

22/06/2006

20:00-21:45

0.8

3.8

Switzerland v South Korea

2:0

BBC3

23/06/2006

20:00-21:45

0.2

1.0

Ivory Coast v Serbia & Montenegro

3:2

ITV4

21/06/2006

20:00-21:45

0.1

0.4

Paraguay v Trinidad & Tobago

2:0

ITV4

20/06/2006

20:00-21:45

0.1

0.2

Iran v Angola

1:1

ITV2

21/06/2006

15:00-16:45

0.1

0.7

Costa Rica v Poland

1:2

ITV2

20/06/2006

15:00-16:45

0.1

0.6

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