More than 15 million people in the U.K. "tuned in" to watch England's opening World Cup game versus Italy on BBC One on Saturday, according to the BBC. The TV audience "peaked at 15.6 million just before half-time." The entire broadcast attracted an average audience of 11.5 million, "making it one of the most watched programmes of the year so far" even though the game kicked off at 10pm local time. In comparison, the audience for England's first match at the 2010 World Cup against the U.S. "peaked at 20.1 million," but that game kicked off at 6:30pm (BBC, 6/15). The match was watched by 12.8 million viewers on RAI in Italy (Twitter). In London, Mark Sweney reported ITV’s coverage of Thursday's World Cup opener between Brazil and Croatia "drew a peak audience of 12.6 million viewers." ITV’s coverage, which included the opening ceremony, "attracted an average of 8.2 million viewers and a 40.3% share between 7pm and 11.15pm" (GUARDIAN, 6/13).
IN GERMANY: QUOTENMETER's Daniel Sallhoff reported German public broadcaster ARD "recorded outstanding ratings for its broadcast of Saturday's World Cup games." The game between Uruguay and Costa Rica, which started at 9pm, attracted 9.46 million viewers. The number translated into a market share of 34.2%. In the target demographic 14-49, Costa Rica's 3-1 victory had a market share of 41.5% as 4.21 million viewers tuned in. The day's first game between Colombia and Greece was watched by 7.14 million viewers and obtained a 39.3% share starting at 6pm. In the target demographic, Colombia's 3-0 win had a 44.7% share. The highest-rated game was the clash between England and Italy. The game, which kicked off at midnight, attracted 7.49 million viewers and had a 56.6% share. In the target demographic, Italy's 2-1 win obtained a market share of 58%. Thursday's World Cup opening match between Brazil and Croatia attracted 15.87 million viewers on German public broadcaster ZDF. On Friday, a total of 14.58 million viewers tuned in to watch the matchup between Spain and the Netherlands on ZDF (QUOTENMETER, 6/15).
