© UEFA

More viewers watch the Euro 2012 football match on BBC One than ITV1 overnight figures have revealed.

The Corporation’s coverage of the match, which saw Spain beat Italy, was seen by 12.3 million viewers on Sunday evening with a peak of 13.3 million viewers. By contrast ITV’s coverage of Italy’s 4 nill defeat was seen by just 2 million viewers with a peak of just 2.2 million viewers!

It is not unusual for the BBC to outrate ITV for sporting events especially when both broadcasters air a particular match/game. After all the BBC is commercial free meaning viewers do not run the risk of the programming cutting away to adverts at a crucial moment – as had happened on previous occasions causing some embarrassment for ITV. The scale of BBC One’s victory over ITV1 for last night’s match is higher than usual though.