England World Cup TV audiences beating royal wedding

The BBC said 14.1 million people watched the match on its main terrestrial BBC One channel; the royal wedding on May 19 had an average audience of 11.5 million.

There were 2.8 million live stream requests on BBC's online platforms for the England-Panama game.

A peak television audience of more than 14 million saw England beat Panama 6-1 in the World Cup, again beating viewing figures for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the BBC figures said on Monday.

Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in Sunday’s match as Gareth Southgate’s men secured their place in the last 16 in England’s largest ever win at a World Cup finals.

The BBC said 14.1 million people watched the match on its main terrestrial BBC One channel -- a UK audience share of 82.9 percent -- with 2.8 million live stream requests on its online platforms.

BBC chiefs said the average match audience was 12.8m. It was 16.6m for England’s opening match of the World Cup, the 2-1 win against Tunisia.

The royal wedding on May 19 had an average audience of 11.5 million.

The figures do not include the audience for the build-up and post-match coverage, and do not take into account those watching in pubs or on giant public screens.