BBC emerged as the other big winner of the World Cup final, smashing the competition in the battle for viewers.
Billions around the world tuned into the action at the Lusail Stadium as Argentina overcame France in arguably the greatest final in history. Qatar played host to Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe going toe-to-toe in a duel for the ages, with the former finally lifting international football’s biggest prize.
But as the thrilling tussle between Argentina and France careered towards a penalty shootout, those behind the scenes were eagerly awaiting results with the amount of viewers tuning into each channel.
ITV and BBC have shown matches throughout the tournament, with the two broadcasters dividing games between themselves. However, for the showpiece final the channels went up against one another.
And according to data supplied by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB) it was the BBC that came out on top. The Radio Times report that 14.9 million watched the final with Gary Lineker and Co on BBC, in comparison to just 4.4 million watching ITV’s coverage, fronted by Mark Pougatch.
Match of the Day host Lineker tweeted to his legion of followers: "Sensational numbers for last night’s World Cup Final classic. 14.9 million on @BBCOne and 7.1 million streams on @BBCiPlayer and online. That makes 22 million by my reckoning on BBC. Thank you for choosing us.”
ITV did manage to snag the other blockbuster event of the tournament, England’s quarter-final elimination vs France. Having also had the round-of-16 clash against Senegal, 22 million tuned in to see Harry Kane ’s penalty heartache against the eventual runners-up.
Lineker was joined by Pablo Zabaleta, Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer in the studio, while ITV had punditry heavyweights Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Ian Wright. Sam Matterface commentated for the latter, with many questioning the decision to overlook Clive Tyldesley.
The much loved commentator left the tournament early after not being selected to cover the latter stages. “Was I bitterly disappointed? You bet I was. But it’s a decision I’ve got to accept and in the grand scheme of things people don’t turn it on for the commentator, they turn it on for the football. I didn’t agree with the decision but I accepted it,” he told Mirror Football in an exclusive interview last week.
Tyldesley clearly had no lasting ill feelings over the snub, standing up for the channel’s coverage of the tournament, believing they had the better product. He continued: “I think ITV have had a really good World Cup, a lot of the news agenda has been made by the likes of Roy Keane and Gary Neville and Graeme Souness.
“We have gifted performers like Laura Woods, Mark Pougatch and Gabriel Clarke who have given us an edge over our opponents.”
