The BBC's announcement of record-breaking viewing figures for England's dramatic 3-2 World Cup victory over Mexico has prompted many supporters to question what the remaining audience was watching during the early hours.
Record-Breaking Viewership Despite Early Kick-Off
The last-16 clash, which kicked off at 2am UK time—delayed by an hour due to thunderstorms in Mexico City—attracted a peak live audience of 9.1 million on BBC One, with an average of 7.8 million viewers. This figure more than tripled the previous record for a BBC broadcast between 2am and 4am, set during the Rio Olympics in 2016. The match also commanded a massive 86 per cent share of the audience at that time, according to the BBC.
One supporter asked: "What were the 14 per cent watching?" Another said: "Who the heck was watching anything else at that time? Surely it must have been left on TVs by mistake. I watched the match, well worth staying up." A third quipped: "The other 14 per cent were scanning through the mucky channels... ahem, so I've heard."
What the 14% Were Watching
For context, terrestrial TV at the time of the match saw BBC Two broadcast a biopic about soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, followed by a Graham Norton interview with Madonna. ITV1 was airing Shop on TV and the Motorsport UK magazine programme. Channel 4 screened a Gogglebox repeat, followed by back-to-back episodes of The Goldbergs, while Channel 5 offered Build Your Dream Home in the Country before a couple of episodes of Friends.
Another fan asked: "What on earth are 1.1m people doing watching TV in the early hours of the morning if not staying up to watch the footie?" A fifth said: "It's 2am, England are on and 14 per cent of the people awake and with a TV on found something else to watch!"
Record Streaming and Social Media Engagement
The morning replay of the match on BBC Two at 7am on Monday drew a peak audience of 1.1 million, averaging 900,000 viewers. The BBC's match highlights have been streamed a record 5.9 million times across iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app, and the BBC Football YouTube channel. Footage of Harry Kane's comical post-match interview with Kelly Somers—in which his voice repeatedly broke following a post-match rendition of Wonderwall—was viewed 65 million times, according to the BBC.
Upcoming Quarter-Final
Saturday's quarter-final against Norway, who knocked out Brazil in the last-16, is set to kick off at the more convenient time of 10pm UK time. ITV will broadcast the fixture, which is expected to once again pull in a massive audience.
