World Cup kicks up lofty TV ratings

World Cup kicks up lofty TV ratings

JAKARTA (JP): World Cup 98 has lived up to expectations by
drawing big television audiences, with the opening match between
Brazil and Scotland topping the ratings so far.

Kusmarsanto of A.C. Nielsen-SRI, a research company which
measures TV ratings, said the tournament's opener on June 10 drew
a 41 percent share of almost 5,000 viewers in 1,000 sample
households in the country's five major cities.

"The rating is far higher than that of television coverage of
student rallies last month, the highest of which stood at 23," he
told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Kusmarsanto said the ratings were from all six local channels
broadcasting the quadrennial event.

"Maybe it was because it was the first match and the opening
ceremony was part of the year's historical events, and all
television stations broadcast the program live so it got so much
attention."

Defending champion Brazil labored to a 2-1 win in the match.

The highest individual rating of 19 was for the Nigeria-Spain
match shown live on RCTI on June 13. Nigeria scored an upset 3-2
victory.

Kusmarsanto said the company would update the survey every
week during the tournament.

The survey revealed that the Group D match pitting Nigeria
against Spain drew more female and young viewers compared to the
opening game.

Female and school-age viewers of the match reached 14 percent
each, while the Brazil-Scotland match managed only 11 percent and
10 percent for the respective categories.

Kusmarsanto said matches broadcast at weekends and those aired
before midnight had higher audiences than those aired after
midnight or in the early morning.

The company has been monitoring TV audiences in Jakarta,
Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung and Medan since 1991.

The research agency uses a PeopleMeter system in calculating
ratings. The system relies on the device installed in each
television set belonging to an approved ratings "family".

"We equip them (TV owners) with a sort of remote control. TVs
will automatically displays questions seconds after they are
turned on."

Questions concern the respondent's age, sex, status in the
family and other personal data, which are answered using the
remote control.

Kusmarsanto said the system allowed the company to gain data
on a minute-by-minute basis.

He said the method generated more accurate data compared to
the manual diary system the company applied when it monitored
viewing patterns during the 1994 World Cup.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reported that Japan's World
Cup soccer match with Croatia posted the highest television
ratings in the Tokyo area for a sporting event in more than 30
years.

A total of 9,135,000 households in the capital and its
surrounding areas watched Saturday's game, for a rating of 60.9
percent, Video Research said. There are about 15 million
households in the capital region.

It was the highest rating for a sports TV program since 1966,
when the World Boxing Commission Bantamweight title match between
Japan's Fighting Harada and Eder Jofre of Brazil drew a rating of
63.7 percent, Video Research said. (emf)