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England v Croatia got year’s highest UK TV figuresBBC opted for more first-pick games in knockout stagesITV is winning the UK television ratings battle after the first week of the World Cup. Viewing figures obtained by the Guardian from Barb, which measures audience numbers, show the commercial channel had four of the five highest TV audiences, topped by England’s 4-2 win over Croatia.England’s victory in Dallas attracted a peak audience of 15.4 million on ITV and an average of more than 10 million, the highest UK TV viewing figures of the year.ITV also had the second-highest viewing figures on TV of the first round of group games, with the opening match between the co-hosts Mexico and South Africa getting a peak audience of 7.7 million and a match average of 6.6 million. The BBC’s live coverage of France v Senegal on Tuesday obtained a peak audience of 6.7 million and match average of 5.9 million.ITV’s coverage of Spain v Cape Verde and the Netherlands v Japan complete the top five, with peak audiences of 6.1 million and 6 million respectively.The Barb viewing figures include those watching on main channels and streaming services through a television but not those watching on a laptop or mobile phone. When viewers watching the BBC stream on laptops and mobiles are added, its peak viewing figures for France v Senegal increased to 7.6 million, and it got peak audiences of 6.7 million and 6.5 million respectively for Portugal v the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Belgium v Egypt.The BBC traditionally attracts better viewing figures for live sport than ITV and is likely to get a higher audience when the channels go head-to-head in broadcasting the World Cup final next month, with the initial match selections the key to ITV’s success in the opening week.The BBC gambled in pre-tournament negotiations with ITV by opting to have more first-pick games in the knockout stages. It will have the first choice of fixtures in the last 32, last 16 and semi-finals, as well as England’s second group game against Ghana on Tuesday.The BBC also showed Scotland’s first World Cup game in 38 years, against Haiti last weekend, which attracted a peak audience of 2.8 million despite a 2am UK kick-off. The audience watching live on BBC One comprised 78% of UK TV viewers at the time, rising to 92% in Scotland.Most of ITV’s biggest games come at the start of the tournament, though it also has England’s third group game, against Panama, and any England quarter-final. That could be a tie against Brazil on a Saturday night.ITV’s World Cup coverage has been well received critically, largely owing to its stunning studio in Brooklyn with views of the iconic Manhattan skyline. The BBC has been criticised for basing its presentation from its studios in Salford, although it has sound financial reasons for doing so.The new BBC director general, Matt Brittan, has this week begun announcing significant efficiency savings that could lead to the loss of up to 2,000 jobs at the corporation as it attempts to reduce its budget by £500m over the next three years.The BBC have been criticised for not offering a daily highlights programme on television but its digital highlights are proving popular and have been streamed 11.6m times in the BBC iPlayer this week, an increase of 197% from the first week of Euro 2024.

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US broadcaster overran ads during hydration breakBroadcasts must return 30 seconds before play resumesFox will not face any sanction from Fifa for breaking the governing body’s advertising rules during the opening game of the World Cup between Mexico and South Africa last week.The US broadcaster broke Fifa’s strict guidelines for showing commercials during hydration breaks on the first occasion they were in operation by returning to the live action 10 seconds after play had resumed during the second half at Mexico City Stadium.Fifa’s tournament regulations, which were given to all rights holders two months ago, state that while broadcasters can show ads during hydration breaks they must return to the match 30 seconds before play resumes.While Fox’s commercials overran by 40 seconds, the broadcaster is understood to have provided an explanation to Fifa by claiming that it was unaware that referee Wilton Sampaio signaled a hydration break early after Raúl Jiménez scored Mexico’s second goal of the game, and that it was unaware it had been called. As a result Fox was late in cutting to its commercial breaks, which subsequently overran.While some viewers complained about Fox’s error, there have been no repeat incidents since. Telemundo, the World Cup’s Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, has opted not to cut away to full-screen advertising during hydration breaks, which last for three minutes and take place once in each half regardless of temperature.

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Breaks have been added at World Cup for player safetyFox missed small amount of action during breakFox is facing criticism from fans in the US after introducing full-screen adverts while players take hydration breaks during its World Cup broadcasts.While the breaks address legitimate concerns about players’ health, many fear they will disrupt the pace of play and allow broadcasters to extract added advertising revenue.Fox, which owns the English language broadcasting rights for the World Cup in the US, cut to an advertising break during the second-half of Mexico’s victory over South Africa in the tournament opener. The referee had called a hydration break just after Mexico had scored their second, and final, goal of the match. When the broadcast returned to the match, play had already resumed for around 10 seconds, meaning viewers had missed action as South Africa attempted to find a way back into the contest.The ad break received pushback from fans on social media. “We are trying to watch the biggest tournament on earth. Absolute nonsense. End this immediately!” wrote one viewer on X. On Reddit, fans were also critical although some said it was part of watching sport in the US. “Missing live action, which they did, is unacceptable. But commercial breaks during games are a fact of life in the US. It is what it is,” wrote one user.Telemundo, the World Cup’s Spanish-language broadcaster in the US, did not cut away to full-screen advertising during the hydration breaks.