England’s Euro 2016 draw with England on Saturday night was the most-watched programme of the year so far, attracting an average of 12.9 million viewers over the 90 minutes of play and a peak audience of more than 14 million.
The game on ITV easily beat the previous most-watched programme of the year so far, the second episode of Britain’s got Talent on 16 April, which attracted an average audience of 10.3 million and peaked at 11.6 million.
However, it was down by one-and-a-half million on the opening England match of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when 14.4 million watched the team lose 2-1 to Italy on BBC1.
The game against Russia was marred by fan violence before and after, leading the tournament’s organisers, Uefa, to threaten both countries with expulsion if there is a repeat.
Wales’ opening game, a 2-1 win over Slovakia with coverage starting at 4pm, attracted an audience of 5.7 million. It was Wales’ first game in a major tournament in 58 years.
Despite being a domestic face-off with Wales, England’s next game is likely to see fewer people tuning in live as it takes place at 2pm on Thursday.
Norther Ireland’s 1-0 defeat to Poland on Sunday was watched by an average of 5.4 million. Though the country has not had to wait as long as Wales for a return to international tournaments, its last appearance was 30 years ago at the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
