Gary Lineker praises ITV for smashing BBC's World Cup ratings as England beat Colombia

Gary Lineker praises ITV for smashing BBC's World Cup ratings as England beat Colombia

Postby dutchman » Thu Jul 05, 2018 3:26 am

A peak of 24.4 million was hit during the dramatic penalty shoot-out

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England's historic World Cup win over Colombia on Tuesday night (July 3) delivered some extraordinary viewing figures for ITV. And BBC presenter Gary Lineker was among the first to congratulate the rival television channel.

A one-minute peak of 24.4 million was reached when England's Eric Dier scored the winning spot-kick in a dramatic penalty shoot-out, ITV has confirmed.

According to the broadcaster, that's an 81% share of the UK television audience and the highest TV viewing peak since the Olympic closing ceremony in 2012.

Between kick-off at 7pm and the moment England celebrated their victory at just before 10pm, an average audience of 20.2 million viewers watched the knock-out game.

It's the highest peak for live sport since England played Portugal in the 2004 Euros, when a peak of 24.7 million was reached and, as Lineker noted, it's a sign that "World Cup fever" is well and truly sweeping the nation.

And he was quick to respond to Piers Morgan, who tweeted to say it must be a "difficult time" for Lineker as ITV smashed the BBC's previous 2018 World Cup ratings high.

"Difficult time? We're absolutely thrilled that football and England are delivering such vast audiences. Who cares who ends up with the biggest audience by the end of the World Cup? Just want decent broadcasts and England to win," Lineker replied.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the tense knock-out game trumped the ratings of England's earlier group games. At their peaks, more than 18 million watched the matches against Tunisia and Belgium, the BBC confirmed, while 14 million tuned in for the 6-1 win over Panama.

England's quarter-final against Sweden will take place at the Samara Arena at 3pm on Saturday. The game will be broadcast live on BBC One.


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