Broadcasters came together to bring the live action to fans through 44 free-to-air channels around the globe, with just 10 key European markets recording 567 million hours of broadcasting time. Around the world, the coverage made available gave access to a potential audience of 1.03 billion viewers through a variety of viewing options.
Audiences rocketed across the ten days of televised competition with the top average audience across the ten countries totalling 20 million viewers on the closing Sunday. In Norway, for example, NRK achieved an 80% market share for the conclusion of the 1,500m and 400m hurdles while the event as a whole reached 68% of Norwegians.
The 48 disciplines participated in by 1,600 athletes at the European Athletics Championships which was broadcast live from Berlin, proved particularly popular with over 5 million tuning in to ARD channel in Germany for the finals on the Sunday, while the women’s 4x100m relay reached a five-minute peak of over 6 million on ZDF.
In the UK, the BBC reported a peak audience of 6.4 million with an overall reach of 20 million. The BBC also received 2.9 million online programme requests, reflecting growing interest in viewing via livestreaming. Bringing together this combination of sports – athletics, acquatics, rowing, triathlon, golf, cycling and gymnastics resulted in 187 medals being competed for and eventually won by 33 different countries.
As a cross-city sponsor, the SPAR Brand was not only clear to the 800,000 fans in the stadia and cities of Glasgow and Berlin, but also to the over 1 billion viewers at home following television coverage, accessing livestreaming or following all of the action via the extensive social media messaging.
