Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) set another new record Sunday night when it aired the football match between Iceland and France at the European Championships (Euro2016). Fully 1,269,000 people in Norway were watching, up from the 1.2 million who watched Iceland beat England last week.
Norwegian viewers also stuck with the broadcast even after the score was 4-0 in France’s favor at halftime. “Only” around 200,000 viewers changed channels or turned off their TVs, with the vast majority opting to keep watching until the bitter end.
“It’s almost a bit surprising that so many followed the second half,” Kristian Tolonen of NRK told website Nettavisen. That’s when Iceland fans could watch their team regain some ground and score two goals, while France scored a fifth.
Even though they lost the match 5-2, Iceland’s wildly popular national football team made a triumphant return to Reykjavik Monday night. Thousands of Icelanders filled the streets to cheer their heroes, who also made an impression internationally and not least in Norway. NRK reported that the celebrations were due to go on for several days.
newsinenglish.no staff
