When Italy's Fabio Grosso lined up his historic penalty
kick, a record four million Canadians were watching in
anticipation. When his Cup-winning goal lifted Italy into the
history books, it capped the most watched World Cup game ever
in Canada. BBM reports a new single-game record as a national
average audience of 2.84 million Canadians watched the soccer
final.
Nielsen Media Research data also confirms the audience set a
new World Cup record in Canada, reporting a 98 percent increase
in viewership since 2002 (1.08 million on CBC) and surpassing
the previous high set in 1998 by 38 percent (1.55 million
viewers on TSN). In Toronto-Hamilton, only two sporting events
- the Superbowl and Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final - were
seen by more Canadians this year.
In all, an estimated 1.2 billion people, or 17 percent of the
world's population, is reported to have watched the final game.
Here in Canada, after a complete 64-game broadcast schedule,
the 2006 FIFA World Cup finishes with a string of record
ratings stories for its Canadian broadcast partners Rogers
Sportsnet, TSN and CTV.
This year's tournament marked the first time in Canada that all
64 games were televised live and in high definition.
