Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen match…
UPDATE 4:28 PM PT: The England-Italy game that was played on Saturday averaged a 2.6 rating for ESPN with 4.615M viewers. That makes it ESPN/ESPN2’s most-watched non-U.S. Group Stage World Cup game ever. The network says that only three U.S. men’s Group Stage matches have delivered a larger audience (the side has yet to take the field this year). In terms of household ratings, England’s defeat at the hands of the Azzurri is the 2nd highest-rated non-U.S. Group Stage World Cup game, falling behind Thursday’s Brazil-Croatia opener which scored a record overnight average of 3.2 in the metered markets. Univision, meanwhile, reports that its World Cup audience is 25% larger among total viewers than in 2010 through eight matches. Yesterday was the most-watched Saturday of Group play in Univision Deportes’ World Cup history, the network says. Those matches included Colombia-Greece, Uruguay-Costa Rica and England-Italy. Today’s big match-ups included France versus Honduras, which ended a few hours ago, and Argentina versus Bosnia-Herzegovina, who are still on the pitch. Germany faces off with Portugal tomorrow at 12 PM ET, but what Americans will really have their eyes on is how the U.S. fares against Ghana at 6 PM ET.
PREVIOUS, 2:28 AM PT: When England met the U.S. in the 2010 World Cup, the team’s first match of the tournament peaked with 20.1M viewers in the UK and 72.7% of the audience, according to Overnights TV. The sides ended at a 1-1 draw and the match overall averaged 16.1M viewers. Last night’s match between England and Italy didn’t end quite so well, not for the English team, and not in the ratings. Per the overnights, BBC One‘s full coverage from 10:20 PM to 1:30 AM averaged 11.51M viewers and 68.4% of the audience. The match’s peak came at 11:40 PM with 15.65M and a 78.5% share. Italy’s 2-1 victory over the Three Lions was played out in the Amazon, the first Cup match so far to see the pitch at Arena Amazônia. The New York Times reports it was still 83 degrees at halftime with 70% humidity, an hour after the sun had set. Italian coach, Cesare Prandelli, called the conditions “absurd,” despite victory for the Azzurri. At home in Italy, the match aired on RAI 1, RAI and Sky Sport 1, totalling 15.27M viewers and an 82% share. The majority, according to local reports, went to Rai 1 with 12M viewers and an audience share of 70.5%. Earlier in the UK, ITV‘s coverage of the Uruguay-Costa Rica match averaged 5.5M and a 28.8% share. Colombia vs Greece drew 4.57M and 34.3% on BBC One in Saturday’s first game.
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