Russia 2018: 4.6 million TV viewers on average in Italy (Mediaset) for the 64 matches

The 64 matches of the 2018 World Cup in Russia posted a cumulative average audience of 297 million viewers, or 4.6 million per game, on the channels of the Italian free and pay TV group Mediaset.

This is the first time that the 64 matches of a World Cup have been broadcast for free (Canale 5, Italia 1 or Canale 20) in Italy. The matches were also broadcast in 4K on the pay-TV channel Mediaset Premium. The cumulative audience on the free-TV channels was 285 million viewers, or 4.5 million on average per game.

The cumulative audience (free and pay TV channels) was 19.7% higher at the 2014 World Cup, where only 25 games were broadcast for free via the public-TV channel RAI, and all 64 matches via the pay-TV group Sky Italia.

• "We are experiencing a historic case, as for the first time, broadcasting a football competition can generate profits," said Pier Silvio Berlusconi, managing director of the Italian free and pay-TV group Mediaset, about the 2018 World Cup on 05/07/2018.
  
  • Audiences and advertising revenues are "well above our expectations," said the son of Silvio Berlusconi.
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