It would appear the early mornings induced by Australia’s fixation with the beautiful game are taking their toll on our late-night viewing habits.
Despite a lengthy weather delay, the 2026 FIFA World Cup group match between France and Iraq attracted a Total TV national reach of 1,049,000 (the weather delay had a mere 2000 fewer), according to OZTAM’s overnight VOZ report.
When the threat of lightening had abated sufficiently such that the teams could retake the field, Kylian Mbappé’s French team despatched their Iraqi foes 3-0.
But as mentioned above, with everyone getting up early, no-one is hanging around late at night it would appear. The nightly news programmes and the lead in and out programmes – Tipping Point 1,624,000 national reach – were the evening’s most watched items.
The National Total TV Reach was 13,266,000 while BVOD’s reach was 5,526,000 representing just over half the reach of broadcast TV’s 10,053,000.
While early mornings have been de rigueur of late, with the Socceroos do or die match up with Paraguay schedules for lunch time Friday, the nation’s productivity outside of hospitality venues threatens to be at an all-time low. Viewing numbers, however, will be exciting to see! And rest assured B&T will be sure to fill you in.
