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.
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