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ITV is poised to surge ahead of the BBC in the European Championship ratings battle, with an audience of more than eight million people expected to watch England’s semi-final against Italy on Tuesday night.
The commercial broadcaster took a gamble by choosing to have first pick of the semi-finals in pre-tournament negotiations with the BBC, which in return got live coverage of three of the four quarter-finals, including England’s thrilling penalty shootout win over Sweden. The broadcasters will share live coverage of Sunday’s final.
ITV’s show of faith that Sarina Wiegman’s side would reach the last four appears to have paid off, because viewing figures have increased significantly through the tournament. With the drama of England’s victory against Sweden having captured the nation’s imagination, ITV is hopeful of gaining more viewers than the 7.3 million peak audience that watched the quarter-final on the BBC.
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In another potential boost for viewing figures all English schools will be closed for the summer holidays from Tuesday afternoon, so even the youngest England fans may be allowed to stay up to watch the Lionesses.
ITV would have lost millions in advertising revenue had England been knocked out, which given the commercial constraints under which it operates, may have had implications for its coverage of other sporting events.
ITV’s peak audience almost doubled from the 2.6 million who watched England’s opening match against France to 4.2 million viewers for the team’s final group game against Wales the following week.
England’s Euro 2022 semi-final win over Sweden – also a primetime evening kick-off in midweek – was watched by 9.3 million people and their extra-time victory in the final against Germany reached a peak audience of 17.4 million, the highest-rated TV event of the year and the most-watched women’s game ever on UK television.
England’s World Cup final defeat by Spain 12 months later attracted a smaller audience of 13.2m – 10.7m on BBC One and 2.5m on ITV – with the drop largely attributable to the Sunday morning kick-off.
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ITV will have its presenting team in Switzerland on Tuesday evening for the first time in the tournament, with Laura Woods joined by the pundits Karen Carney and Emma Hayes in Geneva.
England fans will be able to celebrate into the small hours if England reach the final because the Home Office has extended pub opening hours until 1am to mark an occasion of “exceptional national significance”. Licensed premises that normally close at 11pm are permitted to serve alcohol for another two hours, although pubs are not obliged to stay open.
