Russia 2018: 8.79 million viewers on average in Germany (ARD and ZDF), -27% vs 2014

The 64 matches of the 2018 World Cup drew a cumulative audience of 526 million TV viewers in Germany, an average of 8.79 million per game, on the channels of the public television groups ARD and ZDF. As with the 2014 World Cup, the two channels equally shared the broadcast of the matches.

The 2014 edition of the competition in Brazil, which saw Germany crowned world champions (1-0 win over Argentina on 13/07/2014), drew a cumulative audience of at least 720 million viewers on both channels (+27% compared to 2018).

The three games of the Mannschaft, who were eliminated during the group stage of the competition in Russia, drew an average of 26.29 million viewers for an average audience share of 81.9%. In 2014, Germany's seven matches drew an average of 28.55 million viewers (audience share: 83.8%).

• The public audiovisual groups ARD and ZDF acquired the broadcasting rights of the 2018 World Cup for Germany, for an estimated €200m in April 2012.

Comparison of cumulative audiences in Germany for the 2018 and 2014 World Cups: -17% in the group stage, -46% from the Round of 16

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