99.8 percent of TV viewers in Iceland tuned in to see them beat England

We’ve seen plenty of impressive sports TV ratings lately, but it’s hard to imagine a better share than what Icelandic TV notched for their broadcast of Iceland’s win over England in the Euro 2016 Round of 16 Monday.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, 99.8 percent of TVs in Iceland were tuned to that game:

Iceland’s shock Euro 2016 last-16 victory over England claimed an almost total clean sweep of television viewers in the North Atlantic island nation on Monday night.

Just 0.2% opted for another channel.

99.8% of the country’s TV audience tuned in to see goals from Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson cancel out Wayne Rooney’s penalty as the Icelanders, competing at their first ever major tournament finals, booked a quarter-final spot to continue their heroic campaign.

Created specially for the European Championships, the Icelandic TV channel Sjónvarp Símans has achieved unheard-of viewing figures. In the side’s final group-stage match against Austria, which saw Heimir Hallgrimsson and Lars Lagerback’s men grab a last-gasp 2-1 win, it registered a 98.5% share of the audience – but Monday’s triumph topped even that.

Every Western sports network must be horribly jealous of that kind of share – it makes you wonder what the other .2% of Icelandic television viewers were watching. There’s nothing in the North American sports landscape that can produce that kind of viewing monopoly. Super Bowl 50 this year could only muster a 73 share. It will be interesting to see if Iceland continues to follow this team this extensively as the tournament goes on. They face France Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern.

[As.com]