BBC dominates ITV in World Cup final viewing figures battle

The BBC have claimed victory over ITV in the battle for World Cup final ratings, with an average audience of 13.9 million turning in to watch Spain’s victory over Argentina. The BBC said it recorded a peak of 15.8m viewers across BBC One and iPlayer, giving the broadcaster a 64 per cent share of all TV viewing. In the end, the BBC’s gamble of not sending its studio team to the United States until the semi-finals paid off handsomely, with Gabby Logan presenting the final live from the MetLife Stadium along with pundits Wayne Rooney , Joe Hart and Micah Richards. Wayne Rooney said he thought the half-time show was 'crap' in one of the TV moments of the World Cup (BBC Sport) The broadcaster had controversially opted to present its coverage of the group stage and the start of the knockouts from Salford, but was rewarded by England reaching the semi-finals. More than 24m viewers tuned in to watch England’s defeat to Argentina , which is likely to be the most-watched broadcast of the year. While Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain was shown on both BBC and ITV, BBC increased its viewership share from the 2022 final between Argentina and France, from 58 per cent to 64 per cent. Data from agency Digital-i said ITV’s viewership peaked at 3.4m. The BBC’s coverage of the World Cup was hosted by Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman. It was their first major tournament without Gary Lineker , who had initially planned to present his seventh World Cup final for the BBC but left the broadcaster last year after making an “error” on social media . ITV opted to present the whole World Cup from a lavish rooftop studio from Brooklyn overlooking downtown Manhattan but the pull of blockbuster pundits Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright could not overturn the ratings battle for the final. The BBC also claimed a couple of viral incidents that will go down as some of the TV moments of the year, such as Harry Kane losing his voice following England’s win over Mexico and Wayne Rooney calling the World Cup final half-time show “crap” before the watershed. Meanwhile, the BBC also reported a "very strong" performance in TV licence sales during the recent World Cup, crediting a QR code promotion displayed during matches.