European broadcasters celebrate record-breaking World Cup

This summer’s World Cup set new TV records around the world, according to figures released by the Platform for European Promotion of TV (PEPPTV) – a group of broadcaster trade bodies and sales houses in the EU.

In Germany, a record audience of 41.89 million viewers tuned in to watch Germany beat Argentina in the final, an 86.3% audience share.

The Netherlands’ semi-final match against Argentina set a new record of 12.4 million viewers in the country including out-of-home viewing – an audience share of 89.3%.

In Austria, the final was watched by a record audience of 1.81 million viewers – a 55.3% audience share – making the game the highest-rated football match in Austria since Euro 2008.

Belgium’s match against the USA also became the most watched football match in the history of Belgian television with 5.5 million viewers, 85% of the TV audience.

“The fully audited global figures for Sunday’s match will not be known for some time but broadcasters are already optimistic that the numbers may approach or even surpass the 909 million who watched the Spain v Netherlands final in 2010,” said PEPPTV.