Norway's narrow victory over neighbors Denmark in women’s handball's EHF Euro 2022 final last Sunday (November 20) drew the largest audience of the year in the two countries.
In Norway, an average of 986,000 viewers tuned into TV3, the free-to-air commercial broadcaster, as the national team won its ninth European Championship with a 27-25 victory against Denmark.
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Audience figures peaked at more than 1.1 million according to Viaplay Group, the Scandinavian streaming platform, gaining a market share of 74%, which turned the final into the most-watched commercial TV broadcast in Norway this year.
Strong viewing figures on Viaplay also ensured that the final became the most-watched handball match ever on the streaming service.
Viaplay held rights across Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK.
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In Denmark, meanwhile, an average audience of more than 1.5 million watched the final on commercial broadcaster TV2, delivering a market share of 74%.
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By GlobalDataThe audience peaked at 1.7 million, making the final this year’s most-watched program on Danish television, according to the broadcaster.
Elsewhere in the region, Swedish broadcaster TV6 recorded a market share of 18% for the fifth-place game between Sweden and Netherlands.
In Slovenia, one of the three host nations, the best market share was 22% on Slovenija 2 for the nation’s match against Hungary.
The tournament also recorded strong numbers digitally on the European Handball Federation’s (EHF) owned and operated channels.
For the first time at a women’s event, 14 dedicated shows were produced for the ‘Home of Handball’ Twitch channel, combining for more than 60 hours of live streaming and recording 1.17 million live views.
The content on the channel included watchalongs with EHF commentators and experts.
On video-sharing platform TikTok, 33 videos posted since the end of October gathered 21 million views. The platform grew by 10% to 615,000 followers, making it the largest within the EHF’s social media ecosystem.
Posts and stories on the EHF Euro’s Instagram channel were seen more than 26 million times over the course of the championship.
The Women’s EHF Euro 2022, which was played in Slovenia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro between November 4 and 20, was broadcast in over 80 countries through deals secured by sports marketing agency Infront and sports media firm DAZN Group, the respective marketing and media partners of the EHF governing body.
Earlier this year, the EHF attributed strong digital numbers in terms of reach and engagement for the men’s EHF Euro 2022 to the digital strategy of Infront and DAZN.
Martin Hausleitner, EHF secretary general, said: “Those are impressive numbers which we are proud of and which underline the value of handball in our key territories.
“Furthermore, it shows the very positive impact of women’s sports on the market. Looking also at the first digital figures, we are successfully reaching established as well as new audiences and have built a strong platform from which we can even further enhance the level and reach of women’s handball.”
Julien Ternisien, Senior Vice President Summer Sports, Infront, said: “We were delighted to have secured coverage of the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 in over 80 countries and these figures only go to show that the reach of the sport continues to grow. We have successfully built on every edition of the tournament and this result will provide a new benchmark for the EHF and Infront to focus on going forward.”
Image: EHF/kolektiffimages
