Europeans went soccer crazy during the weekend as millions tuned in to watch the opening matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament, which culminates July 9, is drawing record numbers of soccer fans, with a TV, broadband and mobile audience running into the hundreds of millions.
For the first time, some mobile phone users with 3G handsets in Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. can watch matches and highlights on their cell phones. Mobile operators, however, have thus far proved coy about numbers.
In host nation Germany, 20.1 million viewers tuned in to pubcaster ZDF to watch the home team wallop Costa Rica, 4-2. The rating represents a 75.7% share and does not include the thousands who watched the game in pubs and at outdoor screenings around the country.
Story: Hollywood Reporter
