Champions League final: Top 5 countries draw 33.9m viewers to free broadcasts, down 15%

Free-to-air channels drew 33.9m viewers for the final of the 2014 Champions League between Real Madrid (ESP) and Atletico Madrid (ESP) (4-1 aet) in the Top 5 European countries (Spain, Germany, Italy, France and England) on 24/05/2014.

This represents a decrease of 15% compared to the 2013 final between Bayern Munich (GER) and Borussia Dortmund (GER), which brought in 39.5m viewers on free channels. The better overall ratings for the 2013 edition were mainly due to the record number of Germans (21m) who watched the match on the public channel ZDF.

In 2014, Spain brought in the highest ratings of the Top 5, with 11m viewers watching the Spanish teams face off; this was a 62.1% market share.

The co-broadcasting of the final on pay channels

• In each country of the Big 5, the match was also simultaneously broadcast by a pay channel -- and by two in Italy.
• Pay channels do not release all of their ratings. Only Canal+ (France) and Sky Sports…