World Cup Final Viewing Figures – BBC Destroys ITV

Ollie Irish

12th, July 2010

15 Comments

By Ollie Irish

Spain play with their shiny new toy

In terms of viewing figures for Sunday’s World Cup final, the BBC handed ITV its arse, with almost five times as many people choosing Gary Lineker over Adrian Chiles.

The BBC claimed its match audience average was 4.5 times higher than ITV’s. The final averaged 15.1 million (a 54 per cent share of viewers) on BBC1 and 3.3 million (a 12 per cent share) on ITV1.

I’m not sure the reason for this predictable defeat for ITV has much, if anything to do with the quality of its coverage; ITV anchor Adrian Chiles has had a decent tournament, and his banter with regular pundit Gareth Southgate – who has had a very good World Cup – is more enjoyable than the 19th-hole waffle coming from Leicester’s top crisp salesman and the two Alans. As for the commentators, they’re a bit uninspiring on both sides.

No, people choose the BBC because there aren’t any commercial breaks to sit through. Simple. As long as the Beeb remains ad free, there’s no way ITV can win this battle.

Posted in World Cup

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15 Comments

  1. Chris says:

    My choice was entirely based on which commentators voice I could stand to listen to for the duration and The Beeb won hands down.

  2. Deckard says:

    The two ITV ones Clive something and Adrian something(sorry don’t watch that much English TV) I quite like. But generally I prefer the BBC, though I missed John Motson in this WC. I also prefer the BBC analyst panel, was especially interested in their feedback after England’s annihilation.

  3. Jelly Bean says:

    ITV commentators are dreadful – they talk rubbish and can’t pronounce the players’ names! I steer clear, even if the 2 Alans are a bit dull.

  4. eamogomez says:

    Cant beat dunphy giles nd brady

  5. Pedro says:

    ITV’s preachy moralising was pretty disgusting after the Suarez handball incident. At least the beeb leave the proselytising to the professionals.

  6. PhilandoTorres says:

    Andy Townsend is a waste of fucking space.

  7. alison says:

    What the hell does Chiles know about football. Awful choice ITV. I didn’t watch ITV again. Give me The 2 Alan’s and Gary any day.

  8. Dave says:

    Tyldsley and Chiles…..A match made in hell. Chiles trys to make a funny out of everything which i find most annoying probably to disguise his lack of football knowledge. Tyldsley really is an irritant with his phoney cliches. The boy Lineker has the balance of humour and futty stats spot on.

  9. CeejayNightwing says:

    I choose to watch the final on the BBC simply becasue NO ADVERTS! Both sets of idiots after the Suarez Handball incident made me sick, they vindicated cheating instead of condemning it. Wouldn’t have been that way if it was England on the receiving end ..oh wait a minute, that did happen with the original Hand of God!

  10. mizman says:

    i watched BBC for Clarence Seedorf. brilliant man

  11. […] features analysis of of the World Cup final battle between BBC and […]

  12. David Macbeth says:

    It was interesting to see that Steve Wilson got the final on BBC- which is good because he’s actually been one of their most underated commentators for a while. Good to see they are beginning to see sense. As for why i dont like to watch ITV- its not Chiles, i quite like him, its Andy ‘king of stating the bloody obvious’ Townsend. Although in fairness most pundits are awful. Their tactical knowledge is minimal, hence why half of them are failed managers. The rare occasion you get a good pundit on such as Martin O’Neill or Gordon Strachan (incidentally not failed managers) you realise how piss-poor the rest of them are.

  13. Deckard says:

    Seedorf and Davids are embarrassing. I know outside Holland they’re all praised and everything but there’s a reason they never get invited to a Dutch panel. Rarely met two guys who’re so full of themselves and does out cliches one after the next to the point it gets nauseating.

    I saw a bit on ITV days before Germany – England. And there was Andy Townsend blabbing on how he seriously thought England could beat Germany because the English were simply a better side player by player. Since then I’m never taking him seriously again.

  14. juancullo says:

    you should all watch rte, brilliant, no bullshit analysis

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