Media

FIFA Women’s World Cup breaks more TV records following final

Published

1 year ago

August 23, 2023

The FIFA Women’s World Cup broke another television viewing figures record as the final saw a record peak of 14.46 million people watch the match in the United Kingdom.

The number from broadcasters BBC and ITV was the largest recorded for women’s football in the country, as European champions England lost 1-0 to Spain at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

BBC’s coverage drew in 12 million viewers to dwarf ITV’s 2.46 million.

It topped viewing figures for this year’s men’s singles Wimbledon final, between 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia and eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, which attracted 11.3 million viewers.

The World Cup final was also viewed a total of 3.9 million times on the BBC’s online platforms.

“We’re proud to be long-term partners for women’s football which continues its fantastic upward trajectory,” said BBC Sport director Barbara Slater.

“The Lionesses came so close but they should be incredibly proud of reaching a World Cup final.

“It was a brilliant tournament for audiences and these figures prove once again that no one can bring the nation together for the big moments quite like the BBC across TV, iPlayer, Sounds and the Sport website.”

The final was only bested in terms of viewing figures by one event this year as 18 million watched the Coronation of King Charles III in May.

In Spain, an average of 5.6 million people tuned in for at least one minute of the game which represented 65.7 per cent of television viewers in the country on that day.

It was the country’s first Women’s World Cup trophy win and the highest ever audience recorded for the tournament in Spain.

Viewing figures peaked during the 13 minutes of additional time at the end of the match at 7.38 million.

The tournament has consistently produced record numbers, as in Australia a total of 11.15 million watched the co-hosts in their semi-final defeat to England.

It was the second time in less than a week that records were broken in the country of more than 25 million people.

Australia’s win over France in the quarter-finals had a peak audience of 7.2 million on Channel Seven.

Prior to the beginning of the tournament, FIFA’s chief women’s football officer Sarai Brennan expected that it would reach an audience of more than two billion viewers which would easily surpass the previous record of 1.12 billion set at the 2019 edition.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

Published

2 months ago

September 17, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

How To Stream AC Milan vs Liverpool Match Online For Free

An online streaming service has exclusive rights to the big Champions League match – but it’s easy to watch it for free.

Liverpool will be returning to the Champions League on Tuesday night, hoping to get back to winning ways on the opening night of the new campaign, facing old foes AC Milan.

The side, who previously faced Milan in the 2005 and 2007, suffered a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, so they will be hoping to get back to winning ways this week.

However, Milan have also had a tumultuous ride so far, with the team currently in 9th after four games, despite a solid 4-0 win over Venezia at the weekend.

It’s shaping up to be a thrilling match, then, with both teams having plenty to prove, and you can watch it for free on Amazon Prime Video.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Media

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

LaLiga Signs 2024-25 Broadcast Deal With China Media Group

Spanish soccer’s top-tier LaLiga has unveiled state-run China Media Group (CMG) as its official broadcast partner in the country.

Through a deal announced today, CMG returns as a Chinese broadcaster of the 20-team Spanish league.

The tie-up has come with the 2024-25 campaign already four matchdays in and follows a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in late July.

Last season (2023-24), LaLiga action was shown in China by the Migu streaming service, while rights for 2024-25 have also been snapped up by the iQiyi digital broadcaster.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga, has said: “China remains a key market for LaLiga, and we are thrilled to bring our league’s unique passion and excitement to Chinese fans through one of the most influential media platforms in the country.”

Over the last few weeks, LaLiga has been scrambling to add more partners to its stable of broadcasters for this season.

Earlier this month, a significant deal across numerous African markets was unveiled with SportyTV, while mid-August saw BeIN Sports extend its exclusive rights deals across the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Domestically, DAZN and Movistar are the main rights-holders through deals running between 2022 and 2027.

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Ambrose Ijeh

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Belgium’s Pro League Launches Five-Season Domestic Rights Tender

Published

2 months ago

September 11, 2024

Ambrose Ijeh

Belgian soccer’s top-tier Pro League has gone to market with a domestic media rights tender for the five seasons between 2025 and 2030.

The tender was launched recently (September 9), and the Pro League is being strategically supported by the heavyweight IMG agency – through a deal unveiled last October – during the process.

The deadline for prospective rights-holders to submit bids is October 16, with a Pro League general assembly to then evaluate the bids on October 18.

Interested parties can obtain the tender documents by contacting tender2025@proleague.be.

The 16-team Pro League’s domestic and international rights are currently held by global sports streaming service DAZN – which acquired previous rights-holder Eleven Sports in 2023 – in a five-year deal running through the 2024-25 season. Eleven tapped sports agency Mediapro to distribute international rights in partnership with the league.

In total, eight rights packages are available for purchase – three specifically for the Pro League (others cover the second-tier Challenger Pro League and various domestic cup competitions).

A new development in this tender is that the packages are platform-neutral, meaning they cover both linear and streaming rights.

In terms of kick-off times for games across the five seasons covered by the tender, meanwhile, the Pro League has said these “remain virtually unchanged.”

IMG, meanwhile, also has a contract in place to collect and commercialize the Pro League’s fastpath data in a five-year agreement with European Leagues running from 2022-23 to 2027-28.