“You wouldn’t have thought many people would have watched Togo vs South Korea at the World Cup of 2006. These were unglamorous teams, meeting in the first round. Nonetheless, the game’s average live global TV audience was 109m viewers. That was more than saw last year’s Super Bowl of American football, or Champions League final, or probably any non-sporting TV programme. And the 109m doesn’t include hordes who watched outside their homes, in bars or on big screens.
Next month’s tournament could be the most watched media event in history, competing only with the Beijing Olympics, says Kevin Alavy, director at Initiative, futures sport + entertainment, a research agency.
Mr Alavy gave me some insight into some of the data he has gathered on world cups. The agency has collected reliable TV data from 55 countries, as opposed to the inflated figures trumpeted by the sports events themselves. Initiative’s numbers capture something of the World Cup’s uniqueness.”
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