Blog Initiative

Postcard from Ireland!

Would you recognise one of these if you saw it?

For those of you unfamiliar with the London office it is located next door to the National Passport Office, conveniently placed opposite our fourth meeting room – a.k.a The George Tavern.

Last night, myself and some colleagues were in the above mentioned meeting room discussing the finer points of the England teams’ tactics when we were joined by a good looking young man.

He was wasting some time whilst waiting for his new passport to be issued.  Aged 23, ‘Dave’ is from the East End of London, supports West Ham and is a Financial Advisor.  He was naturally very excited because the reason he was getting his passport renewed was because he is off to Germany to see the World Cup!

Unfortunately he had to pay a premium for his passport because it came with something that most passports don’t have – a hooligan chip!  Yes, our new best friend ‘Dave’ is a convicted England hooligan.

So, if when you’re watching the football on television, you spot a respectable looking, well groomed young man with a pint of lager in his hand – give him a wave – it could be Dave.

Steph Black, Nicky Williams and Jody Louie, Initiative London

World Cup 2006 more popular than World Cup 2002, but audience growth is slowing as the tournament progresses

The Group Stage can be fraught with tension with teams desperate not to go home so soon after arriving at the World Cup.  All teams play three matches, once against each of the other teams in their group.  Only the top two teams in each group qualify for the next round, with the other two catching an early flight home.

While the players want easy victories, fans prefer to see tightly fought, competitive soccer with lots of goals.  The degree of competitive balance between the teams helps to explain global viewing trends during the Group Stage.

Overall, viewing for live and time-shifted broadcasts of the 48 matches during the Group Stage across 38 markets was up 8 per cent for World Cup 2006 compared with World Cup 2002.  However, the rate of audience growth varied significantly between the first, second and third sets of group matches.

During the first sixteen games, average audiences were up by 20 per cent, with audience growth fastest in key soccer markets in Europe and South America.  Viewing rose fastest there because matches were broadcast at much more convenient times of day than during World Cup 2002 in Japan / Korea.

While time zones have been a positive effect on global viewing, growing differences between the performances of the best and worst teams has lowered TV audiences.  In 2006, eight teams were so dominant in their group that they had already qualified for the second round after winning their first two matches.  In 2002, only two teams were in that position after the first two games.

The lower number of goals scored has also had a negative effect on audience figures.  Only 117 goals were scored in the Group Stage in World Cup 2006, 10 per cent less than the 130 goals at the equivalent stage of World Cup 2002.

As a result, the rate of audience growth in World Cup 2006 has slowed as the tournament has progressed, with the 3rd Group matches attracting average audiences 3 per cent lower than at the equivalent stage of World Cup 2002.

However, with many of the favorites making it through to the knockout stages of World Cup 2006, the global average audience is set to rise again during the remainder of the tournament.

Rai 1 continues to enioy huge ratings for Italy World Cup games

Italian TV station Rai 1 once again enjoyed record ratings for the Italian second round World Cup match against Australia.  A last minute penalty from Francesco Totti saw off the Aussie challengers and 17.3m million Italians tuned in, representing an 80% share for Rai 1.  Once again Initiative Milano employees watched the game together in their offices.  Italy now face Ukraine in the quarter finals

Read the report from Initiative Milan on the viewing statistics for the Italy vs Australia match

Number of the Day - 30th June

8% more viewers globally watched the Group Stage of World Cup 2006 than World Cup 2002.

Do you enjoy the Group Stage of the World Cup or do you only tune in for the knockout stages?  Let us know by posting a comment!

Global TV audiences dance to a samba beat - Brazilian team returns to top spot in global viewing league

Millions of fans from all over the world tune in to watch the Brazilian soccer team, attracted by the exciting, attacking soccer that Brazil is so well-known for producing.  At World Cup 1998, Brazil‘s group matches attracted more viewers than any other team.  Initiative’s most recent ViewerTrack shows that during the group phase of World Cup 2006, Brazil is again the most watched team.

As Initiative predicted before World Cup 2006 kicked-off, average global audiences have been higher for Brazil’s matches than for any other team during the group stages.  Brazil vs. Croatia has been the most watched match to date globally, with an average live program audience of 124 million viewers across 53 markets. 

Other tournament favorites are also proving to be popular with TV fans.  Germany, Italy, England and France make up the rest of the top five most watched teams during the group stage at World Cup 2006.

Tournament outsiders are less popular in terms of in-home TV audiences.  The least watched teams during the group stage of World Cup 2006 were Iran, Trinidad & Tobago and Serbia & Montenegro.  These teams failed to win any of their matches at this year’s World Cup.

Group matches involving the tournament favorites were also most popular in previous World Cups.  The top five most watched teams during the group stages of the last three World Cups were:

Brazil dropped to the fifth most watched team during the group stages of World Cup 2002.  Despite attracting a wide global fan base, the Brazilian team is still most popular in South America where many of the live matches were broadcast in the middle of the night in 2002.

Number of the Day - 29th June

Brazil are the world's No.1 most watched team at World Cup 2006 so far

Are Brazil your favorite team to watch?  Tell us why by posting a comment!

Shadow cast over World Cup 2006 in Asia-Pacific - Unfavorable time zones lead to sharp slide in live viewing figures

World Cup 2002 gave global advertisers and sponsors the opportunity to reach mass audiences across Asia-Pacific for the first time. 
 
Local interest was already high with Japan and South Korea jointly hosting the tournament, and was buoyed by the unprecedented success of the South Korean team in reaching the semi-finals. With matches played live at convenient times of day for viewing in Asia-Pacific, audiences for the World Cup had never been higher in this region.

Initiative’s most recent ViewerTrack, however, reveals that this enthusiasm has not extended to watching World Cup 2006 in anywhere near the same numbers as in 2002.  Of the 49 markets for which data is currently available, seven of the ten biggest drops in World Cup audiences in 2006 compared with 2002 are from countries in Asia-Pacific.

Audiences for live broadcasts of matches in the group phase are down by as much as 80 per cent in some parts of the region, with the steepest declines in China Guangzhou, China Shanghai and Malaysia.

The poorer performance of the Asian teams at World Cup 2006 compared with World Cup 2002 partly explains these falling audiences.  TV audiences are even down in Australia despite the team having their most successful ever World Cup campaign in 2006.  Even though average Australian audiences were more than four times higher for matches involving Australia than the average across all matches, their overall viewing is still down on 2002 levels.  This reflects the fact that time zones and scheduling are arguably the most important factors in determining audiences for major international sporting events.

Matches from World Cup 2006 are broadcast live late at night and in the early hours of the morning across Asia-Pacific.  It tends to be only the most hardcore fans, typically men, who are dedicated enough to watch the action live.  With the World Cup being broadcast off-peak in 2006 in Asia Pacific, the female viewing share has declined in this region.  For example, World Cup 2006 female viewing share has fallen from 49 per cent to 40 per cent in Japan and from 50 per cent to 45 per cent in South Korea. 

Audiences in South Korea are still on a par with those in other major soccer markets, despite this fall in viewing in 2006 compared with 2002.  On average, World Cup 2006 matches are being watched by 8 per cent of the South Korean population, the same proportion as are watching in both the UK and France.  Matches in the UK and France are being broadcast in primetime and their national teams are still in the tournament.  This shows just how popular World Cup 2006 is proving to be in South Korea, despite the impact of time zones.

French team win against Spain could turn the tide on waning audience interest

Over the course of the last decade, the French soccer team has entertained the world with its stylish and skillful brand of play, especially from the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry.  Its success has meant that its matches have in the past attracted very large TV audiences globally, compared with other teams.

Hundreds of millions of fans globally saw France’s games when they hosted World Cup 1998.  At that tournament, their matches were the second most watched globally, behind only the ever-popular Brazil.  With Brazil naturally not playing at Euro 2000, France’s matches were the most watched of all at that tournament, when France added the European crown to their world title.

Initiative’s most recent ViewerTrack, however, shows that until now the French team has not attracted TV viewers around the world in the same numbers as it used to.  During their relatively disappointing World Cup 2002 and Euro 2004 campaigns, they slipped to the 7th most watched out of all participating teams.  After the first 32 matches of World Cup 2006, they were only the 9th most watched team in terms of global average viewing figures.

The Spanish appear to be particularly uninterested in France’s matches at World Cup 2006.  Out of the 32 participating teams, France’s matches have so far only attracted the 26th highest audiences in Spain.  This means France’s games are of even less interest to the Spanish than the likes of Togo, Trinidad & Tobago and Paraguay.  However, this is set to change after France and Spain played each other in the Second Round.

Unsurprisingly, the French team still enjoys great home support and is the most-watched team in France itself.  The Brazilian audience also appears to enjoy France’s matches.  In Brazil, France’s matches are the fourth most watched so far.  Let's see what happens on Saturday night!

Number of the Day - 28th June

7 of 10 countries with fastest falling World Cup audiences are from Asia-Pacific.

Are you living in APAC and still watching the World Cup? Post a comment!