Germany-Japan World Cup match a big draw for viewers in Japan, less so in Germany (updated)
24/11/2022 09:21
(Recasts with Japanese viewership)
BERLIN/TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Germany-Japan World
Cup match on Wednesday prompted record access numbers for
Japanese online streaming platform Abema, while viewership in
Germany more than halved from the national team's opening match
four years ago, data showed.
Some 9.2 million people tuned in to German broadcaster ARD's
coverage to see the match, according to data from audience
measurement firm AGF. In the 2018 World Cup, 25.96 million
viewed Germany's first match against Mexico.
The match, in which Japan scored a stunning 2-1 upset over
four-times champions Germany, took place at 2 p.m. local time in
Germany, when many people were at work. In 2018, the opening
match was broadcast at 5 p.m.
Despite the late 10 p.m. start for Japan, the match was
viewed by 40.6% of households in Tokyo and the surrounding Kanto
region on public broadcaster NHK at its peak near the closing
moments, market research company Video Research Ltd said.
Millions more viewed the match on streaming platform Abema,
where access reached a record of more than 10 million on
Wednesday helped by the match, according to parent company
CyberAgent Inc. 4751.T .
The tally is equivalent to around 8% of Japan's population
of 125 million.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan in Berlin, Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo,
Editing by Miranda Murray and Chang-Ran Kim)
((maria.sheahan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 22013 3680;))