The first England match of the Euros went down a storm with viewers at home.
It’s officially Euros season, as England have now played their first match of the tournament, securing their first win against Serbia.
While everything Euros-related officially kicked off earlier last week, on Friday 14th June, Sunday 16th saw England take on their Group C opponents in a tense face-off at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, where Jude Bellingham clinched England’s victory with the match’s solitary goal.
Understandably, it was a match watched by many, with the staggering viewing figures now having been revealed.
Based on the overnight viewing figures, the Serbia v England match was watched by a total of 10.48 million on BBC One, going on to peak at 14.92 million.
To put that into perspective, the overnight figures for Poland v the Netherlands that same day on BBC One are 3.23 million, peaking at 4.61 million.
Similarly, ITV’s broadcast of the Slovenia v Denmark match achieved 0.84 million and peaked at 1.32 million, while ITV’s HD offering saw 2.70 million viewers tuning in, peaking at 4.10 million.
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So, it’s safe to say everyone was ready for the action at home – although whether the game lived up to the hype is up for debate.
With iPlayer figures set to be released, it’s likely that England’s first match will similarly deliver some major numbers online as the country rallied around to watch Gareth Southgate’s team get under way.
While it was a good taster of what to expect from the Three Lions, there’s (hopefully) a lot more coming up as England take on Denmark this Thursday in Frankfurt and then play against Slovenia the following Tuesday, 25th June.
The onset of the Euros not only brings football-related pandemonium and patriotism, but also signals some schedule shake-ups that mean some beloved shows will have to find a new home for the time being.
For England’s match against Slovenia next week and following fixtures, the BBC’s schedules have had to have quite the shift around to accommodate the Euros matches, meaning Eastenders will air on BBC Two across both Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th.
There’s only set to be more schedule shake-ups and impressive viewing figures the deeper we get into the Euros, as excitement grows with the teams continuing to play for the coveted title.
The anticipated final will take place on 14th July, with football fans being positively satiated with a whopping three games per day to get stuck into during the group stages.
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