Having already cemented its place as the most extensively covered and accessible edition ever with a broadcast footprint in 160 territories, the 18th edition of the Continental showpiece also marked the first time that all Group Stage matches were broadcast live in markets beyond AFC territories including the USA, Europe, Latin America, and Africa.
Audiences have also grown within traceable markets, with cumulative TV ratings up by 14% from the Group Stage during the 2019 edition, assisted by free-to-air broadcast in several participating team territories.
Vietnam is among one of the best performing markets, with over 200 million total TV reach tuning into the Group Stage matches on VTV5 and other local channels. This represents an 84% increase in TV ratings from the 2019 Group Stage.
Extensive coverage by tvN and tvN Sports in Korea Republic delivered a 51% TV rating increase from the 2019 Group Stage, with over 65 million TV reach closely following as Korea Republic progressed to the Knockout Stage.
Indonesia’s return to the AFC Asian Cup™ for the first time since 2007, and subsequent progression to the Knockout Stage for the very first time, drew a total of 154 million TV reach on RCTI and various domestic channels.
With audience data from the Group Stage still being gathered from a number of major markets, this will only serve to enhance the sprawling footprint and rising cumulative TV audience of the competition.
Viewership also saw a significant jump on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s social channels, with views of the Group Stage highlights on YouTube already up by over 120% from the entirety of the 2019 edition.
AFC General Secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John said: “The preliminary eye-catching TV viewership figures reinforce the growing demand for AFC football and reiterates the world-class platform of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ for our players, teams and passionate fans alike.
“In addition to a truly global audience outreach so far, we look forward towards working hand in hand with our valued media and broadcast partners as we strive to scale the volume of TV coverage and engage with the hundreds of millions of Asian football fans like never before.”
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