Many expressed doubts about following the water cycle due to the time of year and Qatar as the host country.
Viewing figures from the first three days still showed great interest in watching the tournament on TV.
“It was surprisingly good and beyond our expectations,” says TV4 Sports Director Eric Westberg.
Here are the viewership numbers in SVT and TV4 for the first eight matches in the WC.
The first match between Qatar and Ecuador drew 618,000 viewers on TV4, and Tuesday afternoon saw 509,000 viewers on Denmark and Tunisia.
– It’s still very early days, but we’re being careful if we look at the beginning. Sunday’s premiere was above our estimates. It was a good figure for the first time given that it was Qatar who faced Ecuador. It was surprisingly good and exceeded our expectations, says TV4 Sports Director Eric Westberg.
– The interest was great on all of our platforms, whether in traditional TV, in SVT Play or in the SVT Sports app. We have nothing to compare it to as WC is never played at this time of year, but the viewing figures on TV have been good considering we have so far broadcast matches during the day and in the afternoons, says Max Bursell, program acting director of SVT Sport.
“More than the last EC”
The fact that the World Cup is being held in the winter, in Qatar which has been criticized as a host country and without the participation of Sweden, is supposed to have a negative impact on interest.
– Despite all the discussions about Qatar, we see positive numbers. There is also a lot of interest given that Sweden is not participating, because we are not going to have a campfire around the World Cup. In USA-Wales, we also saw an increase in viewership during the match, and it was fun,” says Eric Westberg.
Companies also broadcast matches on digital streaming services SVT Play and C More, where viewing figures are not communicated in the same way.
– In C More, we have a lot more viewers than we did in the last EC, says Erik Westberg.
– At SVT Play the numbers have been impressive so far and have clearly exceeded our expectations, says Max Purcell.
“I’m starting to feel the World Cup fever”
During the first two rounds of the group stage up to and including Tuesday, the World Cup will continue with four matches per day at different kick-off times.
– When Saudi Arabia jumped in against Argentina, I felt like the World Cup had really kicked off. Then he really started focusing on the athletic side. Now come the big games, we have a great Saturday with France-Denmark and Argentina-Mexico, two very interesting games. Now we’re feeling a little bit of pigeon fever, says Eric Westberg.
The World Cup Final will take place at 16.00 on Sunday 18 December and will be broadcast on TV4.
FIFA World Cup viewing figures: The number of people who watched the matches
Sunday 20 November
- 17.00: Qatar – Ecuador (TV4)
First half: 618,000, second half: 614,000
Monday 21st November
- 14.00: England – Iran (SVT1)
First half: 325,000, second half: 395,000 - 17.00: Senegal – Netherlands (SVT1)
First half: 497,000, second half: 464,000 - 20.00: USA – Wales (TV4)
The first half: 452 thousand, the second half: 505 thousand
Tuesday 22nd November
- 11.00: Argentina – Saudi Arabia 1-2 (SVT1)
The first half: 194,000, the second half: 309,000 - 14.00: Denmark – Tunisia (SVT1)
The first half: 376,000, the second half: 509,000 - 17.00: Mexico – Poland (TV4)
First half: 408,000, second half: 482,000 - 20.00: France – Australia (TV4)
First half: 538,000, second half: 565,000