Handball pulls crowds like blockbuster movies

The Men's EHF EURO 2012 final between Serbia and Denmark in January as well as the female counterpart between Norway and Montenegro in December 2012 saw millions of Norwegian and Serbians cheering in front of their TV sets as ratings analyses in the respective countries have now shown.

The Men's EHF EURO 2012 final, in which Denmark took a narrow 21:19 victory against the hosts, was the most watched TV programme in 2012 in Serbia according to an analysis by agency AGB Nielsen.

The match attracted more TV viewers than the 2012 Australian Open final between Serbian tennis superstar, Novak Djokovic, and Spain's Rafael Nadal, which was the second most-watched programme. Third ranked was the European Championship water polo final between Serbia and Montenegro.

A special status for women's handball

1.163 million people tuned to TV 2 on 16 December, when the Norwegian station broadcast the EHF EURO 2012 double extra-time final thriller between the defending champions and Montenegro (31:34), resulting in an audience share of 74.4 per cent and making it the third most-watched programme in Norway in 2012.

The only two programmes that drew an even higher audience were the London 2012 Olympic Games women's handball final (1.353 million viewers / 84.3 per cent market share), also between Norway and Montenegro, and the final of the 2012 football European Championship final between Spain and Italy (1,183 million viewers / 62.3 per cent market share).

Overall six women's handball matches and one men's handball match rank among the twenty most-watched programmes in 2012 in Norway.

"Women's handball has a very special status among the Norwegians," explains Rune, responsible for sports at the Niorwegian Broadcasting Corporation, NRK.

The original sources for the Serbian TV figures can be found HERE. The article for the Norwegian ratings is available HERE.