BBC wins Euro 2000 battle

The BBC team provided the most-watched coverage

Viewing figures for Euro 2000 show the BBC came out ahead of its rival ITV in every department.

A peak audience of 12.1m watched BBC's coverage of the final between Italy and France on Sunday evening - more than double the 5.7m who watched the other side.

Despite broadcasting a semi-final which kicked off at 5pm, rather than the evening, BBC also drew the biggest audience of the tournament for the match between Holland and Italy - 13.4m.

The other semi-final, between France and Portugal, drew 11.8m viewers.

Popular

BBC One also had the biggest audience for a match which did not involve England, peaking at 10m for France and Spain on 25 June.

As far as the teams were concerned, the BBC also had the most popular presenter, according to a poll carried out by one website.

The Football 365 website poll showed Gary Lineker win three times as many votes as Des Lynam.

BBC One also won the biggest audience for a Uefa competition final, with 11.6m viewers watching Arsenal versus Galatasaray.

The Champions League final between Real Madrid and Valencia attracted an audience of 7.9m.

A BBC spokesman said: "It's a comprehensive win for the BBC.

"Most people prefer to watch live football on the BBC which has been shown time and time again."