BBC World Cup Finale beats ITV’s coverage

It seems as though viewers prefer Gary Lineker and the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup rather than Adrian Chiles and ITV’s world-cup coverage as last nights finale was seen by over 15 million on BBC One while ITV, which also broadcast the match, could barely past the three million mark. The poor result for ITV concludes what many have dubbed a lacklustre world cup for the broadcaster in terms of its coverage which, early in the tournament, famously blundered with a crucial goal being missed on the ITV HD Channel because of an advert break.

 

It seems as though viewers prefer Gary Lineker and the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup rather than Adrian Chiles and ITV’s world-cup coverage as last nights finale was seen by over 15 million on BBC One while ITV, which also broadcast the match, could barely past the three million mark. The poor result for ITV concludes what many have dubbed a lacklustre world cup for the broadcaster in terms of its coverage which, early in the tournament, famously blundered with a crucial goal being missed on the ITV HD Channel because of an advert break. While Chiles coverage has won some fans for ITV others have not been so impressed and it showed last night.

 

Overall the combined figure for last night’s finale between Spain and Holland drew 18 million viewers across BBC One and ITV1 as well as their respective HD Channels. However, a breakdown of the coverage reveals that viewers overwhelming opted for BBC One with a massive 15.1 million viewers tuning in. A further 1.5 million watched the match on the BBC HD Channel – reassured perhaps by the fact that no advert break on the BBC HD Channel would come at an impromptu moment. ITV1’s coverage of the match was seen by 3.3 million viewers while just under 200,000 viewers watched via the ITV HD Channel – a stark contrast to the million plus who watched the channel early on in the tournament only to miss an important goal.

 

The figures represent the best figures for a World Cup finale for BBC One since 1998 and this is despite England’s early exit from the tournament this time around – crashing out to Germany in a crushing defeat. The World Cup has proved to be ratings gold for both BBC and ITV who share equal broadcasting rights to the matches – sharing them out between them expect when it comes to the final which they both air. However, television fans will be glad to see the schedules return to normal with the conclusion of the tournament. No doubt viewers will also be glad to no longer have to turn down the volume on their televisions because of the irritating sounds of the vuvuzela horns being “played” at the matches.