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)