The 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup is bringing a lot to the women’s game in terms of development as ESPN, BBC2 and ZDF could witness it.
For the first time in Germany, a Women’s World Cup match attracted as much as 16.95 million viewers with 59.3% of them following it on public-service channel ZDF. This record got created through the Germany-Japan quarter-final match that saw the host nation stunned by the Asians on a 1-0 score line after extra-time.
However, the development of Women’s Football still has some way to go on ESPN. The Brazil vs USA quarter-final fixture got a 2.6 overnight rating—the highest score for a women’s match since 1999 when USA and Brazil locked horned in a World Cup semi-final. That match had drawn a 3.2 rating.
Even then, those numbers are nothing compared to what the USA-China 1999 Women’s World Cup final achieved on ABC. A 13.3 overnight rating was recorded for that titanic encounter which the USA won to lift the trophy.
With the France-England quarter-final encounter also hitting high standards on BBC2 for example in terms of viewers, Wednesday’s France vs USA semi-final battle is expected to attract even more TV spectators. The winner of this clash will face either Japan or Sweden in the final.
Remember that both France and USA are fresh from penalty shoot-outs wins. The Americans enter this encounter as favorites to progress into the final of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup but France's chances of causing an upset haven't been ruled out at all.
However, the development of Women’s Football still has some way to go on ESPN. The Brazil vs USA quarter-final fixture got a 2.6 overnight rating—the highest score for a women’s match since 1999 when USA and Brazil locked horned in a World Cup semi-final. That match had drawn a 3.2 rating.
Even then, those numbers are nothing compared to what the USA-China 1999 Women’s World Cup final achieved on ABC. A 13.3 overnight rating was recorded for that titanic encounter which the USA won to lift the trophy.
With the France-England quarter-final encounter also hitting high standards on BBC2 for example in terms of viewers, Wednesday’s France vs USA semi-final battle is expected to attract even more TV spectators. The winner of this clash will face either Japan or Sweden in the final.
Remember that both France and USA are fresh from penalty shoot-outs wins. The Americans enter this encounter as favorites to progress into the final of the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup but France's chances of causing an upset haven't been ruled out at all.
