England v Croatia – 37 MILLION Brits to watch World Cup semi-final against Croatia in biggest sport TV audience ever amid fears of blackout
A potential power crisis could be on the cards with the National Grid expecting electricity demand to suddenly sky-rocket at half-time
AT least 37 million people are expected to tune in as England take on Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night.
The ultra-high viewing figures are expected to smash the current record held by the World Cup final in 1966 which drew audiences of 32.3 million.
Since then, Britain’s most watch sporting events have included the 1970 FA Cup Final replay (28.49 million) and the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony (24.46 million).
Ratings experts have predicted colossal viewing totals for the prime-time 7pm game on ITV due to “patriotism and pride”, which they say will even attract non-football fans to watch following decades of tournament flops.
A potential power crisis could be on the cards during a mass audience TV spectacle, with the National Grid expecting electricity demand to suddenly sky-rocket by 1,050 megawatts at half-time.
That is the equivalent of 70 million fridge doors opening at once, putting incredible pressure on the electricity supply and potentially risking a blackout.
Dubbed a "TV pick-up", the sudden surge it is caused by people boiling kettles, opening fridge doors and turning the lights on at exactly the same time - often when a programme has ended or during an ad break.
Power outages have already plagued Britain’s World Cup show – with blackouts reported during matches against Colombia and Sweden across parts of London.
The previous power surge record was 2,800 megawatts during the 1990 World Cup semi-final between England and West Germany.
Biggest telly moments
- England win World Cup final, 1966 32.3m
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- Charles and Di's wedding, 1981 28.4m
- Den and Angie fight, EastEnders, 1987 28m
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Of the 37 million viewers expected on Wednesday, at least 26 million are expected to be watching here in the UK.
Around three million additional casual viewers - including children before early bedtimes - are expected to watch part of the game but not at the peak minute, which BARB said means they are additional viewers not included in the peak figure.
Another four million are expected to watch online in ITV Hub’s most-watched live programme ever.
A further four million are expected to watch in England’s 40,000 pubs – but they too will not be included in official viewing figures.
Tens of thousands more – also in addition to TV viewing totals - will tune in to the action via dozens of big screens and in sports clubs across the country.
BARB – the Broadcasters Audience Research Board – admitted its ratings system does not yet combine average viewer totals from TV and devices, meaning average audience figures - reported from TVs only - are far lower than the real number of average viewers across TV and devices.
Up to four million viewers will be tuning in to the the semi-final via ITV Hub, mainly on phones, tablets and laptops.
Many ITV Hub viewers will watch the whole game as they are more engaged with a programme than normal TV viewers, as they specifically make the effort to watch via ITV Hub and are unable to simply flick through channels as on a traditional TV.
A spokesperson for ratings analysts Kantar Media said: “The semi-final will be a national event.
“There will be an increased audience due to patriotism and pride, with whole families gathered around TVs.”
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A BARB spokesperson said: “Previous tournaments have shown the size of TV audiences England games can achieve. Evenings are prime time.
“Average audience ratings are for TV sets only. Online ratings via ITV Hub or BBC iPlayer are measured separately - but not combined with average ratings for TV viewing.
“Casual TV viewers who watch part of the game but not at the peak minute are additional viewers on top of the peak TV viewing figure.
“And figures for TV viewing do not include big screens and pubs, which are extra viewers.”
Britain’s most watched non-sport broadcast was the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, which attracted an audience of 32.10 million viewers on September 6, 1997.
The most watched TV programme dates back to 1986, when 30.15 million people tuned in to see Dan serve Angie with divorce papers in a Christmas Day episode of EastEnders.
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