OVER 315,000 IRISH viewers tuned in to watch last night’s World Cup semi-final between England and USA.
An average audience of 220,000 saw Jill Ellis’ US side narrowly overcome Phil Neville’s England, while the audience peaked at 316,700 as the game approached its exciting conclusion, meaning 20% of those watching TV were tuned in to the game on RTÉ 2.
“The continuous growth in viewing figures as the tournament has progressed shows the value in bringing a global tournament to an Irish audience free to air,” said Declan McBennett, RTÉ’s Group Head of Sport.
“RTÉ, TG4 and indeed BBC are to be commended for backing the Women’s World Cup to the level they did. The tournament has created not only new heroes for many young girls and boys but also new role models given the level of expertise and insight witnessed across the television panels.”
Eng v USA at WWC...220k average audience, peak of 316.7, 19.85% share. That’s a huge moment for Women’s soccer. Huge thanks to all @RTEsport & @SportTG4 for bringing it to Irish audience free to air.
— Declan McBennettRTE (@RTEmcbennettd) July 3, 2019
Meanwhile, across the water, a peak audience of 11.7 million watched the game, making it the most-watched British television broadcast of the year.
An average of 10.3 million watched the entire match, a figure that excludes those viewing it on streaming services or in public spaces or pubs.
The tournament as a whole has widely been regarded as a ratings success, with the BBC recently reporting that it has become the UK’s most viewed women’s football tournament on television, with a combined TV reach of 17.2 million, compared with 12.4 million for the 2015 tournament in Canada.
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