More than 20m tune in for victory over Netherlands as broadcasters hope to surpass 30m mark on Sunday for final
England’s Euro 2024 semi-final victory over the Netherlands was watched by a peak audience of 20.3 million on ITV, becoming easily the most-watched television programme of the year.
Broadcasters are hoping more than 30 million viewers will watch Sunday night’s final against Spain, based on the numbers that tuned in for England’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final. The overnight viewing figures, provided by the ratings agency Digital-i, do not include the millions of people who were streaming the match on ITVX or watching in public places.
Coverage of Euro 2024 in the UK is split between the BBC and its commercial rival ITV, with the two channels trading first choices for matches in each round. ITV executives cheered Jordan Pickford’s success in saving a Swiss penalty, which secured the channel another lucrative England match and will have delivered a substantial advertising boost to the channel.
Ollie Watkins’ bolt from blue stuns Netherlands and sends England to final
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Both channels will show the final, with about a fifth of viewers usually choosing to watch ITV over the BBC.
Euro 2024 has shown how sport is one of the few types of broadcasting that can still lure people away from streaming services and bring in enormous live audiences, especially when it is free to watch. Even matches not involving the home nations have delivered substantial audiences, with a peak of 11 million people watching the Spain v France semi-final on BBC One.
The Euros are one of the UK’s “crown jewel” sporting events – along with other contests such as the football World Cup, Wimbledon and the Olympics – which are required by law to be shown on free-to-air channels.
Other sports have chosen to prioritise the higher funding available from pay TV channels in return for substantially lower audiences for international matches. The England and Wales cricket board ran a successful lobbying campaign in the 2000s to stop England test matches being added to the free-to-air list. As a result, Jimmy Anderson’s farewell match against the West Indies at Lords – broadcast behind a paywall on Sky – attracted a peak audience of only about 700,000 viewers.
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THE MOMENT HIS STORY CHANGED: When investigators confronted Tanner Horner with GPS data, phone records, and delivery timestamps from the truck route that day, detectives say his explanation began to shift. That turning point led to a confession revealing what happened during the final hour involving 7-year-old Athena Strand — details that investigators say still leave many unanswered questions…
In the punishment phase of Tanner Horner’s capital murder trial in Tarrant County, Texas, in April 2026, prosecutors presented a mountain of digital and forensic evidence that dismantled the former FedEx contract driver’s initial explanation for what happened to 7-year-old…
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In the punishment phase of Tanner Horner’s capital murder trial in Tarrant County, Texas, in April 2026, prosecutors presented a meticulously reconstructed timeline of the final hours on November 30, 2022. Using GPS data, delivery scans, cellular records, and the…
THE FIRST WORDS HE ADMITTED: During questioning, Tanner Horner reportedly admitted that the first thing he told 7-year-old Athena Strand after she entered the truck was a short command: “Don’t scream.” Investigators say that single sentence later became one of the most chilling details in the entire confession…
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THE 60-MINUTE TIMELINE: Investigators say the entire sequence involving 7-year-old Athena Strand unfolded in less than 60 minutes. From the moment she disappeared near her home to the moment Tanner Horner drove away from the area, detectives later reconstructed a minute-by-minute timeline that revealed how quickly everything changed…
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THE AUDIO THAT KEPT RECORDING: The interior camera inside the delivery truck used by Tanner Horner didn’t capture clear video that day — but investigators say the audio system continued recording for several minutes. Prosecutors later told jurors that those sounds from inside the truck involving 7-year-old Athena Strand became a key piece of evidence revealing what happened in the final moments before everything suddenly went quiet…
In the punishment phase of one of Texas’s most disturbing capital cases, jurors in Tarrant County have been forced to confront evidence that even seasoned prosecutors described as “horrible.” On November 30, 2022, seven-year-old Athena Strand was abducted from her…
THE TWO-MINUTE AUDIO: Investigators played a nearly 2-minute recording from inside the FedEx truck driven by Tanner Horner. In the background, the voice of 7-year-old Athena Strand can reportedly be heard crying while the vehicle keeps moving. Court officials say the audio suddenly cuts off before the recording ends — and detectives say the next few seconds became one of the most important clues in the entire case…
The Two-Minute Audio: A Chilling Clue in the Murder of Athena Strand In the quiet rural community of Paradise, Texas, on November 30, 2022, seven-year-old Athena Strand vanished from her family’s driveway. What began as a routine FedEx delivery of…
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