By Paul Nicholson
December 21 – FIFA has released more record breaking TV numbers for both for its men’s and women’s world cups – a poignant reminder of the popularity of the world’s favorite event as US justice authorities reiterate their crusade against football corruption on their own continent and their thinly veiled objective of bringing down world governing body FIFA.
The world’s population is estimated at about 7 billion people – just under 50% (3.2 billion) of them tuned in at some point in the tournament to the men’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. More than one billion fans watched the final. Broadcasters showed a record 98,087 hours of match, up 36% from 2010.
For the Women’s World Cup Canada 2015, more than 750 million television viewers tuned into the tournament and shared what FIFA describes as “the global success of the event in a breakthrough year for women’s football”.
A total of 764 million in-home TV viewers watched at least one minute of match action from Canada. 555.6 million people tuned in for at least three minutes during the competition, up more than a third on the comparable figure from the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 in Germany. Broadcasters showed a total of 7,781 hours of coverage, a 31% increase on the levels of content broadcast during the 2011 competition.
Key TV viewing figures from the 2014 FIFA Men’s World Cup:
· Total in-home audience reach (1+ minute): 3.2 billion (no change on 2010)
· Final match total in- and out-of-home audience reach (1+ minute) hit 1.013 billion
· In-home audience for final (+20 minutes) up by 12% on 2010 to 695 million
· An estimated 280 million people watched matches online or on a mobile device
· Total broadcast hours: 98,087 (+36% on 2010)
Key TV viewing figures for FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015:
· FWWC breaks all-time viewing figures, now 2nd most watched FIFA tournament after FWC
· Total in-home audience reach (+1 minute): 764.0 million (no comparable data)
· Total in-home audience reach (+3 minutes): 555.6 million (+36% on 2011)
· Total broadcast hours: 7,781 (+31% on 2011)
· USA v Japan final was most watched football match in US history
See David Owen’s analysis at http://www.insideworldfootball.com/david-owen/18557-david-owen-has-the-world-cup-tv-audience-plateaued-or-will-russia-2018-see-a-new-growth
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