The IAAF World Athletics Championships’ sparse attendances and complaints over searing heats for marathon races have failed to dissuade the German television audience as viewing figures pick up in the country.
Last night’s action from Doha was watched by an average of 4.1 million viewers on public broadcaster ZDF between 7.20pm (CET) and 9.50pm, equal to an audience share of 14.3 per cent. Germany secured their first medal during the session as Gesa Krause took bronze in the women’s 3,000-metre steeplechase.
ZDF’s audience in the target sector of 14 to 49 year olds was 850,000 (a 10.4-per-cent share).
Following a sluggish start, the German viewing figures have picked up for the Championships.
On Sunday evening, live coverage on ARD was limited to just one hour and 15 minutes following the popular ‘Tatort’ political series. The public broadcaster’s coverage from Doha was watched by an average of 3.3 million viewers (a 13.3-per-cent share).
On Saturday evening, an average of just 2.7 million viewers (a 10.5-per-cent share) tuned in to ZDF’s peak-time coverage. A higher share of 12.8 per cent was registered during the afternoon coverage between 3.30pm and 4.15pm.
Elsewhere, France Télévisions, the public-service broadcaster in another of athletics’ key European markets, attracted an average of 1.65 million viewers and a 7.4-per-cent share for its live coverage from Doha yesterday evening.
The broadcaster’s Sunday-evening output from Doha was watched by 1.34 million viewers (an 8.6-per-cent share).
On Saturday, the France 2 channel netted just 800,000 viewers (an 8.2-per-cent share) for its coverage, although the final of the men’s 100 metres attracted 2.4 million viewers. The live event coverage between 9pm and 11pm was watched by 1.4 million viewers (a 7.5-per-cent share).
In Spain, live coverage of the World Championships is being shown on Teledeporte, the free-to-air digital sports channel of public broadcaster TVE.
Teledeporte registered an average audience of 284,000 viewers (a 2.2-per-cent share) across its five and a half hours of live coverage on Sunday evening, according to the FormulaTV website. The channel’s coverage on Saturday between 3pm and 9.30pm was watched by 247,000 viewers (a 2.5-per-cent share).