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ViewerTrack
Most watched TV sporting events of 2005
A special report from Initiative
|
|
Super
Bowl is world’s favourite |
| Introduction |
| |
The
world’s sporting calendar operates on a quadrennial cycle.
In even-numbered years, the most watched TV sporting events are
always headed by the Football World Cup, the European Football Championships
and the Summer Olympic Games. |
|
For
sports fans, 2005 was a relatively quiet year featuring none of
these four-yearly events. This opened the way for an annual event
– the Super Bowl – to come top of the league table of
most watched TV sporting events. A global average audience of 93
million viewers tuned in to watch the New England Patriots defeat
the Philadelphia Eagles. The US accounted for more than 90% of the
global audience for the Super Bowl, with an average audience of
86 million. |
|
The
second most popular event of 2005 was the UEFA Champions League
Final, between Liverpool and AC Milan. The match attracted an average
audience of 73 million viewers. This was 20 million less than the
Super Bowl audience. The third most popular event was the Canadian
Grand Prix in the FIA Formula One World Championship season. This
race enjoyed 51 million viewers, on average, a further 20 million
plus behind the second-ranked event. |
|
In
all, this ViewerTrack survey monitored TV audiences from arguably
the most high-profile event in fourteen of the world’s most
popular sports. In addition to American Football, Soccer and Formula
One, this survey also monitored TV audiences for 2005’s major
global tournaments in Athletics, Baseball, Basketball, Cricket,
Cycling, Golf, Handball, Ice Hockey, Swimming and Tennis. The report
also included viewing data for the announcement of the winning city
to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. |
|
Initiative
conducts ViewerTrack analyses to help identify and select the most
appropriate communication properties in the world of sport, by delivering
truly accurate and timely insight into global viewing patterns.
Viewing of sporting events is often misreported either due to a
misunderstanding of the data or possibly vested interests. However,
Initiative’s neutral position and expertise in the communication
research field delivers our clients accurate reporting and analysis. |
| |
| Contents |
| The
fourteen featured events4 |
| 2005’s
most watched TV sporting event5 |
| Which
sports are truly global?6 |
| The
world’s highest-rating sporting7 |
| Sports
map of the world8 |
| How
actual audience sizes differ from claimed viewing figures9 |
| |
| The
events in focus |
| American
Football: Super Bowl 10 |
| Soccer:
European Champions League Final 11 |
| Formula
1: Canadian Grand Prix 12 |
| Athletics:
Men’s World 100 Metres Final 13 |
| Baseball:
World Series 14 |
| Basketball:
NBA Finals 15 |
| Golf:
US Masters 16 |
| Cycling:
Tour de France 17 |
| Tennis:
Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final 18 |
| Olympics:
2012 Summer Games Decision 19 |
| Ice
Hockey: Men’s World Championships Final 20 |
| Handball:
Men’s World Championships Final 21 |
| Cricket:
Ashes – 4th Day, 4th Test 22 |
| Swimming:
Men’s World 200 Metres Freestyle Final23 |
| |
| Appendices |
| 1.
How Initiative’s approach differs from other published reports 24 |
| 2.
Sources for claimed viewing figures statistics25 |
| 3.
Contributors 27 |
| 4.
Contacts30 |
| |
| The
fourteen featured events |
| |
Within
each chosen sport, the top events were drawn from a preselected
list. The events were all chosen because they were all arguably
the most high-profile event of 2005 from within their sport. |
|
For
international consistency, we collected data from each market for
the live broadcast only of each event. Time-shifted broadcasts,
highlights and news clips were excluded. |
| |
| Those
events were as follows: |
| |
| American
Football: NFL Super Bowl |
| Athletics:
World Championships – Men’s 100 Metres Final |
| Baseball:
World Series – Game 4 |
| Basketball:
NBA Finals – Game 7 |
| Cricket:
Ashes – 4th Day, 4th Test |
| Cycling:
Tour de France – Final Stage |
| Formula
1: World Championship – Canadian Grand Prix |
| Golf:
US Masters – Final Day |
| Handball:
Men’s World Championships Final |
| Ice
Hockey: Men’s World Championships Final |
| Olympic
Games: Naming of host city for 2012 Summer Olympics |
| Soccer:
European Champions League Final |
| Swimming:
World Championships – Men’s 200 Metres Freestyle Final |
| Tennis:
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships – Men’s Singles Final |
| |
| 2005’s
most watched TV sporting event |
| |
By
collecting data across 53 markets, we have been able to rank the
fourteen selected events in order of popularity. The Super Bowl
was easily the most popular event of the year, with a live global
cumulative average audience of 93 million individuals. |
| |
|
| |
The
second most popular event of 2005 was the UEFA Champions League
Final. The match attracted an average audience of 73 million viewers.
The third most popular event was the Canadian Grand Prix in Formula
One. This race enjoyed 51 million viewers. |
|
In
fourth place was the final of the Men’s 100 Metres at the
World Athletics Championships, with 23 million viewers. Next came
the deciding games from the World Series in Baseball, and the NBA
Finals, which were watched by 22 million and 20 million individuals,
respectively. |
|
Seventh
and eighth places were taken by the final day from the US Masters
in Golf, and the Tour de France cycle race. They were watched by
average global audiences of 20 million and 16 million individuals,
respectively. Tennis gained ninth place. 12 million people watched
the final of the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon between Roger
Federer and Andy Roddick. The announcement of which city will host
the 2012 Summer Olympics drew an audience of 11 million individuals. |
| |
The
remainder of our surveyed events (World Championship Finals in Handball
and Ice Hockey, the 4th Day of the 4th Test in the Ashes, and the
Men’s 200 Metres Freestyle Final in the World Swimming Championships)
all failed to reach the 10 million mark. |
| |
| Which
sports are truly global? |
| |
For
an event to attract a big worldwide audience, it helps to have global
appeal. For example, the mass appeal of soccer in most markets helps
to propel it towards the top of any table of the most popular events
in sport. |
|
However,
not all of the most watched TV sporting events in the world have
global reach. For example, the US alone accounted for over 90 per
cent of this year’s live global audience for the Super Bowl,
and also for the deciding games in the World Series and NBA Finals. |
|
To
assess which sports are truly global, we have calculated the percentage
of the worldwide audience accounted for by the top three rating
markets for each of our surveyed events. This figure is lowest for
the European Champions League Final, at 40 per cent. On this measure,
this is a sign of the long-term health of the event since it is
the least dependent of any of those surveyed on achieving high ratings
in any single market. By contrast, if UK audiences for the Ashes,
or US viewing figures for the Super Bowl or the World Series, were
to fall, then that could have a sizeable effect on their global
popularity. |
| |
|
| |
Defined
in this way, the most ‘global’ of our fourteen surveyed
events of 2005 included the European Champions League Final and
the Canadian Grand Prix. Their multinational appeal helps to explain
why they appear near the top of the league table of the most watched
TV sporting events of the year. |
|
At
the other extreme, events such as the Ashes, the World Series and
the Super Bowl cannot be considered as global affairs, on this definition. |
| |
| The
world’s highest-rating sporting markets |
| |
The
broadcast arrangements across our surveyed markets were varied,
with a mixture of free-to-air / pay-TV and live / time-shifted broadcasts.
As mentioned earlier, for the purposes of this survey, time-shifted
broadcasts were excluded. Note that in some markets, a number of
these leading sporting events were not even broadcast at all. |
| |
|
| |
The
top three-rating markets were the US (147 million individuals),
the UK (32 million individuals) and France (27 million individuals).
Given that the fourth and fifth biggest markets were Germany and
Italy, respectively, it is clear that the established sporting nations
of the West, with the largest populations and most comprehensive
TV broadcast arrangements, deliver the largest absolute audiences
and greatest potential for advertisers to communicate with sports
fans in significant numbers. |
|
A
far wider range of markets come top, however, when viewing figures
are expressed in percentage terms, rather than in thousands of viewers.
Ratings (GRPs) are detailed for each event in their respective sections
below. |
|
| All
ratings referred to in this report relate to viewing figures for
all individuals. A rating is the average percentage of the total
TV-viewing population who viewed the programme. |
| |
| Sports
map of the world |
| |
By
pulling together the viewing figures for each of our 53 surveyed
markets, we have identified the leading sporting event in each of
the six continents. |
| |
|
| |
Compared
with our surveys of the most watched TV sporting events of 2003
and 2004, there is no change in North America and Europe, where
the popular cultural obsession with American Football and Soccer
predominates, as it does in every year. |
|
There
is also no change in Asia. Soccer took top spot last year, in the
shape of the Euro 2004 Final. It remains top this year with the
European Champions League Final. The fact that this is most watched,
of all fourteen surveyed events, is a reflection of the growing
popularity of soccer in Asia. This development has been spurred
by the growing number of broadcast hours in Asia dedicated to European
football on multichannel TV. |
|
In
South America, last year the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics
was most popular. However, being a quadrennial event the way was
clear this year for Formula One to reclaim the number one spot,
which it had in 2003. |
|
Oceania
consistently suffers from highly inconvenient scheduling of major
sporting events. Even though the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon
took place during nighttime in that region, it was nevertheless
able to claim top spot in the regional rankings. |
| |
| How
actual audience sizes differ from claimed viewing figures |
| |
One
of the main reasons why Initiative conducts ViewerTrack analyses
is to report the true level of interest in sporting events. The
true audience can differ greatly from the claimed audience, as the
table below shows. |
| |
|
| |
Although,
as detailed in the Appendix, the comparison between actual and claimed
audience figures for each of these events is not directly like-for-like
in every case, an indication of the degree to which viewing figures
are popularly overstated is clear. For some of these events, the
actual audience is so many times smaller than the claimed audience
that the actual audience cannot even be seen on a chart that has
the same scale for both actual and claimed data! |
|
ViewerTrack
always quotes average ratings across the entire length of a broadcast,
for the sake of consistency and for greater accuracy when considering
the value of sporting events from an advertising and sponsorship
perspective. This is in contrast to the cumulative viewing data
quoted by some companies in the sports industry (i.e. totalling
all the viewers who watched the event at all, regardless for how
long). ViewerTrack reports also always exclude highlights and news
clips, for international consistency. |
| |
| We
now take a more detailed look at each of our surveyed events. |
| |
| American
Football: Super Bowl |
| Date:
Sunday, 6th February 2005 |
| Event:
New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles |
| |
The
Super Bowl is the climax to the American Football season, and is
the biggest event in the US sporting calendar. As a result, the
match draws its highest audiences, both in absolute terms and in
ratings, in the US. There, it attracted an average audience of 86
million individuals (31.0 GRPs). |
| |
|
| |
The
second biggest market was Canada (12.8 GRPs). Although the Super
Bowl was broadcast in a number of markets, as shown on the chart,
viewing was very low outside North America, since the sport is hardly
played anywhere else in the world. This, combined with the unfavourable
live broadcast time (late Sunday night / early Monday morning) in
the key European TV markets, means that the Super Bowl does not
enjoy widespread global appeal. |
| |
| Soccer:
European Champions League Final |
| Date:
Wednesday, 25th May 2005 |
| Event:
Liverpool vs AC Milan |
| |
The
2004 European Champions League final featured two relative minnows
of European football, namely Porto and Monaco. Their relative lack
of fame, combined with the fact that the clubs come from two of
Europe’s lower-profile football leagues, meant that the 2004
final achieved comparatively low ratings. |
|
With
the 2005 final featuring two of the most iconic and successful clubs
in world football, namely Liverpool and AC Milan, this year’s
final attracted far larger audiences. A global average audience
of 73 million viewers watched, compared with an equivalent audience
of only 56 million for Porto vs Monaco. So the global audience grew
by 30 per cent this year. |
| |
|
| |
The
match achieved its highest ratings in Italy (20.1 GRPs), Turkey
(19.8 GRPs) and the UK (19.2 GRPs). These three were the top-rating
markets due to Italy and the UK providing the two finalists, and
Istanbul hosting the match. This was the first time Turkey had ever
been invited to host the final of a major competition run by UEFA. |
|
The
game was arguably the most exciting European Champions League Final
ever, only being decided after extra time and penalties after a
most unlikely second-half comeback by Liverpool. As a result, Croatia
(18.1 GRPs), the Netherlands (14.9 GRPs) and Spain (14.8 GRPs) all
also recorded very large viewing audiences for the match. |
| |
| Formula
1: Canadian Grand Prix |
| Date:
Sunday, 12th June 2005 |
| |
The
Canadian Grand Prix, along with the races in Brazil and the US,
is traditionally one of the most popular races of the season. The
Grands Prix in the Americas owe their pre-eminence because they
are conveniently scheduled for European fans, being broadcast at
peak viewing hours on a Sunday evening in European homes. With Europe
accounting for three-quarters of the global F1 audience, maximising
the European audience is all-important. |
|
|
| |
Three
countries consistently come at the top of the F1 viewing ranks.
This year’s Canadian Grand Prix was no exception, with Finland
(22.3 GRPs), Italy (15.0 GRPs) and Hungary (14.3 GRPs) drawing the
largest audiences, in terms of ratings. |
|
With
the Canadian Grand Prix so conveniently scheduled for European fans,
the top ten rating markets were entirely European, with Germany,
Spain, Austria, France, the UK, Latvia and Slovenia taking the other
top places. |
|
Initiative’s
F1 ViewerTrack shows that while the Canadian Grand Prix was the
most popular race of 2005, it attracted a smaller audience in 2004.
Last year, its audience was depressed by the race directly clashing
with the England vs France match at Euro 2004. This was one of the
most watched matches of the entire tournament. With many Formula
One fans also being soccer supporters, many had to choose between
the two, and prioritised the soccer over Formula One. |
| |
| Athletics:
Men’s World 100 Metres Final |
| Date:
Sunday, 7th August 2005 |
| |
The
World Athletics Championships is a biennial event for the world’s
top athletes, falling in odd-numbered years between the Summer Olympics
and the Commonwealth Games. Arguably the most high-profile of all
track and field events is the Men’s 100 Metres, and hence
we collected global viewing data for the final of this race to give
an indication of how popular the World Athletics Championships were. |
|
|
| |
The
race was most popular, in terms of ratings, in Finland (22.4 GRPs),
Sweden (18.0 GRPs) and Norway (16.3 GRPs). Sweden was the top-rating
market for the equivalent race at the 2003 World Athletics Championships,
but was overtaken this time by Finland due to a sharp rise in viewing
in that country because it was the host nation. |
|
All
three of these Scandinavian nations drew very large audiences for
the race, even though none of them had a ‘Local Hero’
participating. In contrast, other countries that were represented
in the race had much smaller audiences, in terms of ratings. For
example, in Portugal the race only achieved 1.4 GRPs, even though
their star sprinter Francis Obikwelu came fourth. The US had the
gold medal winner, Justin Gatlin, yet had an even smaller audience,
of only 0.1 GRPs. |
|
These
data reflect the fact that in Athletics, hosting a tournament and
having a heritage and tradition in track and field events can have
greater influence on viewing figures than the presence of a ‘Local
Hero’. |
| |
| Baseball:
World Series – Game 4 |
| Date:
Wednesday, 26th October 2005 |
| Event:
Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros |
| |
The
World Series is the climax to the US baseball season. Game 4 between
the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros was the deciding match
of the series. In its home nation, the US, the match attracted an
average audience of 20 million individuals (7.1 GRPs). |
|
|
| |
The
second highest-rating market was Canada (2.9 GRPs). Although the
World Series was broadcast in a number of markets, as shown on the
chart, viewing was very low outside North America, since the sport
is hardly played anywhere else in the world. This, combined with
the unfavourable live broadcast time (early morning) in the key
European TV markets, means that the World Series does not enjoy
widespread global appeal. |
|
| Basketball:
NBA Finals – Game 7 |
| Date:
Thursday, 23rd June 2005 |
| Event:
San Antonio Spurs vs Detroit Pistons |
| |
The
NBA Finals are settled over a best-of-seven encounter. With the
score at a nail-biting 3-3 after the first six games, Game 7 was
a virtual final, with viewers knowing that the winner would be crowned
NBA champions. So we collected data for Game 7 – the de facto
final and hence likely to have been the peak viewing occasion. |
|
|
| |
As
with the Super Bowl and World Series, the NBA Finals attracted by
far their biggest audience in the US. An average US audience of
19 million individuals meant that it accounted for well over 90
per cent of global viewing. |
|
However,
the US audience was 1.5 million less than in 2004. This may have
been caused by the absence of the LA Lakers, one of the most popular
teams, from this year’s NBA Finals. |
|
China
Beijing (1.1 GRPs) and China Shanghai (0.7 GRPs) took third and
fifth positions, reflecting the increased popularity of basketball
in China thanks to the presence of Yao Ming in the NBA. Slovenia
was fourth (0.9 GRPs). |
| |
| Golf:
US Masters |
| Date:
Sunday, 10th April 2005 |
| Event:
Final Day |
| |
Of
the four Grand Slam events in Golf (The Open, US Open, US PGA and
the US Masters), the last is arguably the most high-profile. Held
every year at the Augusta National in Georgia, the event arguably
has an ability to attract viewers that the other three events do
not. This is in part because it is always held in April, and not
held in the summer when TV viewing in general tends to be lower.
It is also because the natural beauty of the course is itself a
reason to watch for some. It was for these reasons that we collected
data for the Final Day – the climax of the event – for
the US Masters. |
|
|
| |
The
top-rating markets were Canada and the US (both 5.3 GRPs). Both
countries had local interest – Canada in the shape of Mike
Weir, the 2003 US Masters champion, and the US in the form of Tiger
Woods and Chris DiMarco (amongst others). |
|
This
year’s US Masters was one of the most exciting in years, with
Woods and DiMarco both finishing the final day on 12 under par,
and the event therefore went to a play-off. The extremely tight
finish kept viewers on the edge of their seats till the very end. |
|
Mike
Weir also performed extremely creditably, finishing joint fifth,
and this helped to boost Canadian viewing figures. |
|
The
event was also popular in the UK (4.2 GRPs) with England’s
bright young prospect, Luke Donald, finishing equal third. |
| |
| Cycling:
Tour de France |
| Date:
Sunday, 24th July 2005 |
| Event:
Final Stage, Corbeil-Essonnes to Paris |
| |
After
navigating through all the highs and lows of the French countryside,
the cyclists made their traditional finish along the Champs-Elysees.
It was the final chance for the sprinters to show their wares and
provided the scene of the coronation of Lance Armstrong in the yellow
jersey in Paris for a record-breaking seventh occasion. As the climax
to the three-week race, we collected data for this stage. |
| |
|
| |
The
final stage was most popular in the established cycling markets
of Belgium North (13.7 GRPs), Denmark (12.0 GRPs) and France (8.9
GRPs). The importance of nostalgia as a motivating factor for watching
is in evidence here, with Belgian viewing benefiting from having
an established heritage in the sport, particularly through Eddy
Merckx, widely regarded as one of the greatest cyclists ever. |
|
However,
in the US the final stage achieved only 1.0 GRPs, even as Lance
Armstrong secured his seventh consecutive maillot jaune. Clearly
the ‘Local Hero Syndrome’ isn’t always enough
to attract viewers. Instead, scheduling is often more important.
With the final stage broadcast early on a Sunday morning in the
US, this necessarily depressed US viewing figures. |
|
Armstrong
has since announced his retirement from professional cycling. With
a different winner of the Tour guaranteed next year, it is likely
that next year’s race will be a closer-run affair, and will
therefore attract more viewers globally. |
| |
| Tennis:
Wimbledon Men’s Singles Final |
| Date:
Sunday, 3rd July 2005 |
| Event:
Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick |
| |
The
2005 Wimbledon final was a repeat of 2004’s final. Again,
the match was between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick and again Roger
Federer, the favourite, won comfortably. The ease with which he
won, and the firm expectation that that would happen, helped to
propel Switzerland to the top of the ratings league (6.7 GRPs),
but depressed audiences in a number of other markets. |
|
|
| |
The
match attracted large audiences in Croatia (6.0 GRPs) and in the
UK (5.8 GRPs). Tennis is growing in popularity in Croatia, with
the country having a particularly strong crop of male players at
the moment. Indeed, Croatia won its first ever Davis Cup this year. |
|
Audiences
in the UK were high as it was the host nation. Although tennis is
relatively unpopular during most of the year in the UK, there is
always a surge in interest in the sport during Wimbledon fortnight. |
|
The
match only achieved 1.0 GRPs in the US, even though Andy Roddick
was representing them. With the game broadcast on a Sunday morning
in the US, this necessarily depressed US viewing figures. |
|
US
audiences were 25 per cent lower than they were for the Men’s
Singles Final in 2004. Viewing may well have declined in the expectation
that Roddick would be comprehensively beaten, as indeed he was. |
| |
| Olympics:
2012 Summer Games Decision |
| Date:
Wednesday, 6th July 2005 |
| |
The
decision on which will be the host city for the Summer Olympics
is taken seven years in advance, in order to give the winning city
sufficient time to prepare for the huge task that is involved in
holding the Olympics. The five major cities on the shortlist for
the 2012 Games were: London, Madrid, Moscow, New York and Paris.
However, with prior expectations strongly favouring the chances
of some of the bidding cities over others, there were marked differences
in the viewing audiences in each of the represented countries. |
|
|
| |
Viewing
figures were highest in France (10.6 GRPs), where they were almost
double those of the second-ranked market, the UK (5.4 GRPs). |
|
There
are a number of stages in the IOC’s evaluation process, and
at each of these prior to the final decision it was clear that Paris
was ahead of the field. Expectations of victory were, therefore,
highest in France. It was perceived to be the ‘safe’
option since it submitted a highly impressive technical bid and
already had many of the facilities in place. |
|
However,
a late burst by the UK bid, largely due to the eleventh-hour support
of Prime Minister Tony Blair, led to London unpredictably overtaking
Paris in the final voting. This result was, however, so unexpected
that viewing figures in the UK were much lower than those in France. |
| |
| Ice
Hockey: Men’s World Championships Final |
| Date:
Sunday, 15th May 2005 |
| Event:
Czech Republic vs Canada |
| |
The
2005 Ice Hockey World Championships were held in Austria. Europe
enjoyed the most favourable broadcasting arrangements, and so dominated
the TV ratings. Audiences were highest in the Czech Republic (32.5
GRPs), Finland (15.0 GRPs) and Sweden (6.7 GRPs). |
| |
|
| |
The
final, which was contested between the Czech Republic and Canada,
was far more popular in the former. Average ratings were only 4.8
per cent in Canada, one-seventh of the 32.5 GRPs in the Czech Republic.
The most important reason why the match was so much less popular
in Canada was that, being held in Austria, it was scheduled at an
inconvenient time of day for Canadian fans. |
|
Whilst
it was broadcast during primetime on a Sunday evening for European
fans, it was scheduled during the middle of the afternoon in Canada.
The total TV viewing audience on a Sunday afternoon is always significantly
lower than during Sunday evenings, and Canadian audiences were therefore
depressed for this reason. |
|
Average
audiences in Austria were relatively low (1.0 GRPs). This is a reflection
of the fact that normally much more than merely hosting a sporting
event is required in order to boost interest. With the Austrian
team failing to even qualify for the quarter-finals, the ‘Local
Hero’ dimension was missing for the host nation. |
| |
| Handball:
Men’s World Championships Final |
| Date:
Sunday, 6th February 2005 |
| Event:
Spain vs Croatia |
| |
Europe
dominated the TV ratings for the World Handball Championships. The
top rating markets were Croatia (32.9 GRPs), Denmark (11.5 GRPs)
and Norway (10.6 GRPs). |
| |
|
| |
The
final was contested between Spain and Croatia. Average ratings were
nearly four times higher in Croatia (32.9 GRPs) than they were in
Spain (8.6 GRPs). |
|
Why
were Croatian audiences much larger than Spanish ones, even though
Spain actually won the final? |
|
·
Croatians are some of the most fanatical sports fans anywhere in
the world. They also achieve very high ratings in other major sporting
events. For example, out of more than 50 markets surveyed globally
by ViewerTrack during Euro 2004, Croatia achieved the 5th highest
ratings. |
|
·
Croatia were the reigning World Champions from the 2003 tournament,
so levels of interest and expectations in the sport were already
high, before the tournament had even begun. |
|
·
Spanish audiences are much less focused on supporting their national
team. Many people in Spain feel more strongly attached to their
region (e.g. the Basque country, Catalonia) than they do to Spain
as a whole. As a result, Spanish audiences for international sporting
events often tend to be relatively low. For example, of the 16 participating
nations at Euro 2004, average ratings in Spain were only 14th highest. |
| |
| Cricket:
Ashes – 4th Day, 4th Test |
| Date:
Sunday, 28th August 2005 |
| Event:
England vs Australia |
| |
The
Ashes is arguably the most high-profile of all series in Test cricket,
given that it features the two oldest rivals in the sport –
England and Australia. The latter had enjoyed a stranglehold over
the event in recent times, with England last winning the Ashes in
1986-87. |
|
The
fourth day of the fourth Test was the climax of a critical phase
of the whole series. With England scrambling to victory by the narrow
margin of three wickets, they secured a 2-1 lead in the series.
This meant that they only had to draw the final Test (which they
did) in order to regain the Ashes. As arguably the highlight of
the summer from the perspective of England supporters, this particular
day’s play was chosen for this ViewerTrack study. |
| |
|
| |
Viewing
figures were highest in the UK (6.8 GRPs) and in Australia (3.9
GRPs). They were much higher in the UK because this year’s
Ashes were held in England, and they were therefore broadcast at
a much more convenient time of day for English than for Australian
fans. |
|
This
year’s Ashes achieved very high ratings in both participating
markets, but particularly in England. Viewing figures there jumped
hugely compared with previous years, as a totally new audience was
attracted to the sport. With cricket coming to be seen as a ‘sexy’
sport on the back of England’s success, there was a particularly
sharp rise in female viewing. |
| |
| Swimming:
Men’s World 200 Metres Freestyle Final |
| Date:
Tuesday, 26th July 2005 |
| |
Swimming,
along with Athletics, is the most watched sport at the Summer Olympics.
However, the World Swimming Championships have a much lower profile
than the Swimming events at the Olympics, and therefore they achieve
much lower viewing figures. While the final of the Men’s 200
Metres Freestyle at the Athens Olympics was watched by an average
global audience of 66 million, the equivalent race at the World
Swimming Championships only achieved an audience one-twentieth of
the size. It was watched by only 3 million viewers. |
|
|
| |
The
highest-rating markets were Poland (2.3 GRPs), Australia (2.0 GRPs)
and Canada (1.8 GRPs). Audiences in Australia and Canada were boosted
by the presence of their local heroes in the race, in the form of
Australia’s Grant Hackett (who won the silver medal) and Canada’s
Brent Hayden (who came fourth). |
|
US
viewing figures are not available since the race was broadcast on
Fox College Sports, which is not tracked by their local TV audience
measurement bureau. However, it is likely that the fact that Michael
Phelps, their local hero, won gold would have raised interest there. |
| |
Appendices |
| |
1.
How Initiative’s approach differs from other published reports |
| |
| ViewerTrack
Methodology |
| |
ViewerTrack
reports are only produced thanks to the efforts of TV researchers
and planners throughout our global network. 53 markets have provided
the data to form a report that gives an unrivalled insight into
TV viewing and a truly international perspective. Taken together,
these markets account for over 90 per cent of the world’s
TV households. |
| |
| Markets
Covered: |
| |
| Americas |
Europe,
Middle East, Africa (EMEA)
|
|
| Argentina,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, US |
Austria,
Belgium (north and south), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia & Montenegro,
Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
UK, Ukraine |
Australia,
China (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai regions), Hong Kong,
India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand |
|
| |
This
analysis is based on live broadcasts only. Time-shifted broadcast,
summary programmes, highlights and news broadcasts have not been
included in order to maintain international consistency. |
|
Ratings
(GRP/TVR) and Viewers (000s) in this report
are for average minute-by-minute viewing of the broadcast. ViewerTrack
always quotes average ratings across the entire length of a broadcast,
for the sake of consistency and for greater accuracy when considering
the value of sporting events from an advertising and sponsorship
perspective. This is in contrast to the cumulative viewing data
quoted by some companies in the sports industry (i.e. totalling
all the viewers who watched the event at all, regardless for how
long). This is a very important distinction to draw since minute-by-minute
data is the standard approach used in establishing industry standard
trading currencies worldwide. |
| |
| 2.
Sources for claimed viewing figures statistics |
| |
| Super
Bowl |
| |
| “Sunday's
Super Bowl will be watched by 800 million people, according to the
National Football League (NFL).” |
| |
| http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/us_sport/1794267.stm |
| |
| European
Champions League Final |
| |
| “Tonight's
match attracted an enthralled global live television audience of 200
million people.” |
| |
| http://en.uefa.com/competitions/UCL/news/Kind=8192/newsId=304666.html |
| |
| Canadian
Grand Prix |
| |
| “With
over 55 billion viewers every year, Formula One has the largest television
audience in sport.” |
| |
| http://www.fia.com/thefia/Organisation/Files/structure.html |
| |
| This
equates to an average audience of approximately 300 million viewers
per race. |
| |
| Men’s
World 100 Metres Final |
| |
| “The
World Athletics Championships … televised to an estimated 180
countries and over four billion viewers around the world.” |
| |
| http://www.hel2.fi/tourism/matko_esitteet/EN_Helsinki.pdf |
| |
| NBA
Finals |
| |
| “NBA
programming currently is seen in 214 countries around the world in
43 languages reaching a global audience of more than 750 million households
outside of North America.” |
| |
| http://www.nba.com/news/schedule_050808.html |
| |
| Tour
de France |
| “TV
broadcasting: |
| -
78 channels in 170 countries |
| -
2 billion viewers |
| -
2,400 hours of TV coverage” |
| |
| http://www.letour.fr/2005/presentationus/chiffres.html |
| |
| Wimbledon
Men’s Singles Final |
| |
| “In
summer 2004… more than 6,159 hours of programming from The Championships
were broadcast by networks around the world. Cumulatively, around
1.8 billion people received some syndicated coverage across 167 territories.” |
| |
| http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/infosheets/Television_2005.pdf |
| |
| Men’s
Ice Hockey World Championships Final |
| |
| “Infront,
the International Ice Hockey Federation's exclusive marketing partner,
has built up television coverage of the event to 35 countries and
a global television audience in excess of 700 million.” |
| |
| http://infrontsports.com/news/news_detail.asp?rubrikID=4&ID=62&suchbegriffe=&curpage=1 |
| |
| Men’s
Handball World Championships Final |
| |
| Approximatively
180 million viewers all over the world watched the title contests. |
| |
| http://www.handball.ca/newsletters/42.doc |
| |
| Men’s
World 200 Metres Freestyle Final |
| “12th
FINA World Championships facts and figures: |
| International
TV audience - Approximately One Billion” |
| |
| http://www.sportspeople.com.au/Sportspeople_Jobs_Market
|
| |
| 3.
About Initiative and the ViewerTrack series |
| |
| Initiative
is one of the world’s largest communications agencies, providing
clients with effective communication solutions. Association with sport
is one of the many potential routes to connect brands with their consumers.
This enables advertisers to expand beyond traditional advertising
and take advantage of communication areas including sponsorship, sports
marketing and broadcast content provision. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| 4.
Contacts |
| Report
produced by |
| Kevin
Alavy and Alison Gaskell |
| Initiative
Futures |
| |
| Please
direct questions or comments to: |
| |
Heather
Bowler
International Press Service
Initiative, Paris
Tel: +33 1 42 84 41 18
heather.bowler@fr.initiative.com
|
Nick
Moore
Sponsorship Manager
Initiative, London
Tel: +44 207 663 73 19
nick.moore@uk.initiative.com
|
| |
Sue
Moseley
Managing Director
Initiative Futures
London
Tel: +44 207 663 72 71
sue.moseley@uk.initiative.com
|
| |
| This
document is the sole property of Initiative. This report and all data
and information contained therein are confidential and intended solely
for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
Any reprint, transmission, or publication of the said report and/or
its content is strictly forbidden without prior written agreement
by an authorised representative of Initiative. |
|
|
| |
| Archive |
Media forecast for upcoming Cricket series- February
06, 06
Regulating For Growth- December 05, 05
Trends in Mumbai print battle- October 29, 05
C & S Homes: The big debate- September 14, 05
Household Potential Index(HPI) from IRS- July 13, 05
THE TV SPORT MAP IN 2004- June 14, 05
Asia Pacific C&S Markets 2005- Apr 28, 05
Consumer Spending Poll- Nov 08, 04
M- SPECTRA : MADISON’S MULTI-MEDIA REACH FREQUENCY ESTIMATOR-
Oct 04, 04
Effective Return on Cricket Ground Signage- Aug 18, 04
Media effect and its measurement in Rural India- Aug 11, 04
Euro 2004 – Performance Analysis- Jul 22, 04
Business Media Opportunities in India- Jul 10, 04
Election 2004: Monitoring of TV Coverage - Jun 26, 04
Election 2004 A Study by MAXUS - May 29, 04
SMS users are open to brand marketing - April 22, 04
Celebrity Endorsements Inside Out: A CyberMedia Study - April
17, 04
Understanding women Study by MCI - March 20, 04
Consultation Note on Issues relating to Broadcasting and Cable
Services -
Jan 01,
04
SMS Selling Made Smarter?!- Dec 04, 03
ICCO World report October 2003- Nov 20, 03
DTH Studyby Initiative media- sep 23, 03
IRS Study- sep 17, 03
CyberMedia Research - July 17, 03
Media Financial Wellbeing - A Study by ATG - June 06, 03
The "Surer" way of consumer contact -May 15 03
TOWN & COUNTRY - June 24 02
All
in All!
Mudra
|
|
| |
