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On television, it is the undisputed number one, especially in France. The 2018 World Cup has enormous viewer-attracting potential, and is guaranteed to produce high TV ratings. As we enter the days leading up to the start of the competition, which will take place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July, we look back over the last World Cup, held in Brazil in the summer of 2014. That year’s competition garnered very high audience numbers, with two matches in particular sailing in to the top 20 highest ratings of all time.

Fifty million people watched the 2014 World Cup

In 2014, TF1 – the only free channel to show the matches – dedicated 56 hours of programmes to broadcasting the World Cup, that’s 28 of the 64 matches in the competition. The event attracted a record number of viewers: 50 million, of which 24.7 million watched at least one match in full. The audience was much more male-dominated and younger than the channel’s normal audience, and included more upper SPC individuals. As for beIN SPORTS, this channel broadcast the entire competition for its subscribers.

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In France, the 2014 World Cup is therefore the most unifying event since the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the stage for the last feats of Zidane, Thuram and their compatriots, which ended in a final against the Squadra Azzurra1. At the time, more than 51 million viewers followed the competition.

In 2014, despite the time difference with the host country (6 hours), the majority of matches broadcast on TF1 were during prime time access (18:00) or prime time (21:00), meaning guaranteed high ratings for the channel. It will be interesting to compare these figures with those of the Russia World Cup, in which most matches will be broadcast at 17:00 and 20:00.

In Brazil, the competition got off to a flying start with the Opening Ceremony. Broadcast live on TF1 on 12 June 2014 between 20:15 and 20:45, it garnered 8.2 million viewers, that’s 35% of the audience share, much more than the 2010 ceremony in South Africa. For its part, the Euro 2016 Opening Ceremony drew in 11.1 million viewers for 42.8% of the audience share on 10 June at 20:41.

Everyone get behind France!

At the Brazil World Cup, the three group-stage matches played by France rank exceptionally high, with an average of 15.8 million viewers on TF1. In the last sixteen and quarter finals, Les Bleus mobilised an average of 16.5 million supporters. The only dip in terms of audience numbers was observed during the competition final; this match, which saw the Mannschaft2 crowned winners over Argentina, ranked below previous World Cup finals.On beIN SPORTS, the group-stage matches between Switzerland and France and Ecuador and France each garnered 1.1 million subscribers on average, and the France vs Germany quarter final 1.2 million (source: Médiamat’Thématik).

The football World Cup comes in a female version too! Les Bleus are increasingly mobilising the public: on 26 June 2015, the France vs Germany quarter final attracted 4.1 million viewers at 22:00 on W9, for 25.3% of the audience share. During the competition, France matches broadcast on the channel W9 drew in an average of 2.6 million viewers and 15% of the audience share. Follow the next Women’s World Cup in 2019!

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For supporters, matches involving the French team are a chance to meet up outside home to experience these intense moments in a group. An average of 703,000 viewers aged 15 and over watched a group-stage match involving France in public places or on a screen other than their television, according to Médiamétrie’s Global TV study, which analyses all TV content consumption whatever the time, place and screen. That’s an additional audience of 4.5% compared to the audience at home, including guests, measured on the television screen. For France matches, there were also twice as many guests in homes than on average.

Les Bleus are also watched by more women: matches involving the French team are watched by 16% more women than other matches. On average, women make up 37.7% of the audience for matches, that’s less than for the Olympic Games but more than for the Tour de France, for example.

French people’s love for their team is therefore reflected in the exceptional numbers who watch France matches, a phenomenon which occurs to varying extents in each participating country (see boxed text). However, first and foremost the public loves football and following its major competitions in general. In France, matches played by other nations had excellent ratings throughout the 2014 World Cup: an average of 6.5 million viewers watched the group stages and 8.1 million watched the last 16, quarter finals and semi-finals on TF1.On beIN SPORTS, the last-16 Argentina vs Switzerland match was watched by 1.3 million subscribers, the highest ratings seen by the channel in 2014. On TF1, the final garnered 13.6 million viewers, a slightly smaller audience than that for the 2010 final between the Netherlands and Spain (14.1 million). By way of comparison, the Euro 2016 final, in which France fell at the final hurdle by losing to Portugal, attracted 20.8 million viewers on 10 July at 21:00 on M6.

Internet viewing has increased, as a complement to TV

Leaving aside television screens, which offer unrivalled quality as well as comfort and the possibility of sharing emotions, there is now a very comprehensive range of programmes on the Internet. These include extras, analyses, summaries, post-match reviews, interviews, highlights, etc., which are often exclusive. It is worth noting that in 2014 TF1 launched an innovative new device: the Multicam, which allowed viewers to choose the angle at which they watched the match; highly popular among Internet users, it generated 26 million interactions over the 28 live-broadcast matches (source: eStat’Streaming).

The TF1 website saw its number of connections increase by 19% on match days, compared to the average for the first quarter of 2014. As for time spent on the website, this increased by 24%. Of the 3 Internet screens (computer, smartphone and tablet), computer screens take the lead: Internet users mainly watch matches on the computer, which accounts for 78% of the time spent on the TF1 website on match days.

Over the course of the entire competition, one quarter of the live sessions on TF1.fr involved a World Cup match.

The 4-screen TV audience measurement initiated in 2016 will allow us to determine precise audience numbers on Internet screens (computer, tablet and smartphone) in the 2018 World Cup.

Social networks, the final indicator of success, act as a sounding board for matches: according to Twitter, 672 million tweets were sent off about the event worldwide, a record for a sports competition! But the prize goes to the spectacular semi-final between Brazil and Germany. Tweeted about 35.6 million times, this match will remain in our collective memory as the greatest humiliation ever seen by a host country.

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Benoît David et Laure Osmanian Molinero

[1] Surnom de l’équipe nationale Italienne
[2] Ou Matchs du 1er tour : les 32 équipes participantes à la Coupe du monde sont réparties en 8 groupes de 4 équipes ; dans ces groupes ou « poules de 4 », chaque équipe rencontre ses 3 adversaires, il y a donc 3 matchs de poules par équipe. Les 2 équipes en tête du classement de la poule à la fin de ces 3 matchs accèdent aux 8èmes de finale
[3] Surnom de l’équipe nationale Allemande

Plus d’informations ? Laure OSMANIAN MOLINERO Mail : laureosmanianmolinero@outlook.com