SBS coverage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup final that saw Lionel Messi’s Argentinian team triumph over reigning champions France drew in nearly a million Australians on linear television and digital channels early Monday.
The 2 am match had an average audience of 976,000 viewers, with linear accounting for 501,000 and BVOD for 475,000, via SBS On Demand.
The final achieved a total linear TV reach of 834,000k viewers and 775,000k on BVOD.
James Taylor, managing director of SBS, said: “It was an absolutely stunning decider and a fitting end to an exceptional World Cup for SBS.”
To date, audiences have consumed 80 million hours of tournament content, with linear TV accounting for more than 52 million hours, and BVOD an additional 28 million hours.
SBS director of sport, Ken Shipp said: “Not only was this a great tournament for the Socceroos and, by extension, the game in Australia, Aussie football fans have really made it a standout event for us.”
Meanwhile in the UK, close to 20 million Brits watched the World Cup final which aired in the UK on Sunday afternoon.
Despite that UK being knocked out of the competition earlier in the tournament, the final was a ratings winner for the BBC who beat ITV, according to The Guardian.
During the tournament, SBS recorded an average of 900,000 daily active users across the platform, and SBS On Demand now has over 12 million logged in registered users – just shy of half the country’s population.
Last week, Mediaweek spoke to SBS director – media sales, Adam Sadler, about soccer fans driving a massive spike in traffic for the network, the network’s greatest ever digital reach, and how they’re making the most of the numbers.
“SBS On Demand is the top ranked app in the New & Trending and Entertainment categories on the Apple Store. It’s ranking higher than all the SVOD services, BVOD services, and social media services – I believe we’re ahead of TikTok,” Sadler said.
See also: “A moment in history”: How SBS is making the most of the World Cup
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Top image: Lionel Messi with Team Argentina