Euro 2016: England's clash with Slovakia breaks TV ratings record

The goalless draw pulled in the biggest audience of Euro 2016 so far

Samuel Lovett
Tuesday 21 June 2016 16:06 BST
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Rooney seizes possession in Monday's fixture against Slovakia
Rooney seizes possession in Monday's fixture against Slovakia (Getty)

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England’s 0-0 clash against Slovakia in Monday’s Group B fixture pulled in almost 14 million viewers, making it the most-watched game of Euro 2016 so far.

As the final group game, the ratings beat the previous highest audience set in England’s opening 1-1 draw with Russia in which 12.9 million people tuned in.

The draw guaranteed England’s place in the last 16 but ensured that Wales emerged on top in Group B.

On average, 12.8 million viewers watched the game on ITV and another one million watched it on ITV2, with a combined five-minute peak of 15.1 million.

The game was not shown on ITV in Wales, which broadcast Wales’ game against Russia instead. An average of 800,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Welsh overcome the Russians in a routing victory in which Ramsey, Taylor and Bale all found the back of the net.

Another 600,000 viewers watched the fixture on ITV4, bringing the total figure for the Wales game to 1.4 million.

England’s second game of the tournament, in which Daniel Sturridge clinched a late goal to beat the Welsh 2-1, had an overall average of 6.6 million viewers having kicked off earlier on in the day at 2pm.

It was live streamed though by a record 2.3 million people on the BBC Sport website.

With an overall combined average of 10.4 million for ITV’s Monday night football coverage, the figures just topped the previous highest ratings - 10.3 million - set by the second episode of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent on 16 April.

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