After a slow start, the World Cup "is kicking into high gear," according to Scott Roxborough of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Opening-round matches featuring "tournament favorites" Germany, Spain, France and Argentina were "among the top draws:" 25.97 million German viewers, a "massive" 81.6% share, watched the loss to Mexico on public broadcaster ZDF. That is "a boost of around 300,000 viewers" compared with the first German match of the 2014 World Cup. On Friday, Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo "nearly single-handedly battled Spain to a 3-3 draw." It was "bad news for Spanish fans but great business for Mediaset's Cuatro," which drew 10.4 million viewers, a 68% share, for the match. The game "also scored with neutrals in Italy," with just over 7 million tuning in on Canale 5 for a 38.7% market share. France's "narrow 2-1 victory over Australia" on Saturday gave Gallic network TF1 its "best score of the year" with a peak viewership of 14.9 million and an average share of 69%. An "impressive 2.1 million viewers caught the match in Australia on SBS, the country's smallest TV network, which won the night" with a 44.9% share (THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 6/18).
HISTORIC AFTERNOON: In London, Martin Belam reported Iceland’s National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, announced 99.6% of Icelanders who were watching TV on Saturday afternoon "chose to watch their national team's World Cup debut against Argentina." The match was shown on RÚV sports, and was, according to the channel, "the most-watched sporting event in the history of the country." Viewership of the game averaged 60% of Iceland's 335,000 population, eclipsing the 58.8% who watched Iceland beat England at Euro 2016 (GUARDIAN, 6/18).
