MORE than 30 million South Africans watched the World Cup on television this year - up by nearly 10% on 2010.
Kelvin Watt, head of sports research company Repucom, said yesterday the Brazil showpiece had attracted an SA broadcast audience of 32.19 million. That is up on the 29.48 million who watched the 2010 tournament hosted by South Africa.
Repucom's benchmark was people who watched 25 consecutive minutes of a game.
The Germany versus Argentina final was the most popular game with an average 6.6 million viewers, followed by Germany against Portugal (5.4 million), Brazil versus Croatia (5.14-million), Australia versus Holland (5.11 million) and Argentina against Iran (5.09 million).
The showpiece also attracted an average high of 3.14 million viewers, compared to 1.26 million for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 1.09 million for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In total, 50% of all South Africans are interested in soccer, compared to 19% in rugby and 18% in cricket.
The Proteas enjoyed the most airtime of the three national teams, with 1042 live hours compared to Bafana Bafana's 67 hours and the Springboks' 66.
Pay channel SuperSport's soccer audience had grown massively in the past five years, especially its Premier Soccer League viewership. In 2008-2009 the most watched live sports event was the Sharks versus Bulls games with 735420 viewers, but in the year ending May 2014 it was Bafana's friendly against Spain with 2.1 million viewers.
On SABC, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates enjoy similar average viewership, with Amakhosi having the edge at 3.347 million viewers to 3.342 million.
Sundowns are third on 3.285 million, followed by Wits (2.11 million) and SuperSport United (2.07 million). But Chiefs rule on SuperSport with just more than a million. Sundowns managed 585000, ahead of Platinum Stars (573000) and Wits (545000).
SA fans liked 2014 cup
MORE than 30 million South Africans watched the World Cup on television this year - up by nearly 10% on 2010.
Kelvin Watt, head of sports research company Repucom, said yesterday the Brazil showpiece had attracted an SA broadcast audience of 32.19 million. That is up on the 29.48 million who watched the 2010 tournament hosted by South Africa.
Repucom's benchmark was people who watched 25 consecutive minutes of a game.
The Germany versus Argentina final was the most popular game with an average 6.6 million viewers, followed by Germany against Portugal (5.4 million), Brazil versus Croatia (5.14-million), Australia versus Holland (5.11 million) and Argentina against Iran (5.09 million).
The showpiece also attracted an average high of 3.14 million viewers, compared to 1.26 million for the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 1.09 million for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
In total, 50% of all South Africans are interested in soccer, compared to 19% in rugby and 18% in cricket.
The Proteas enjoyed the most airtime of the three national teams, with 1042 live hours compared to Bafana Bafana's 67 hours and the Springboks' 66.
Pay channel SuperSport's soccer audience had grown massively in the past five years, especially its Premier Soccer League viewership. In 2008-2009 the most watched live sports event was the Sharks versus Bulls games with 735420 viewers, but in the year ending May 2014 it was Bafana's friendly against Spain with 2.1 million viewers.
On SABC, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates enjoy similar average viewership, with Amakhosi having the edge at 3.347 million viewers to 3.342 million.
Sundowns are third on 3.285 million, followed by Wits (2.11 million) and SuperSport United (2.07 million). But Chiefs rule on SuperSport with just more than a million. Sundowns managed 585000, ahead of Platinum Stars (573000) and Wits (545000).
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