BROADCASTING: FICTION, SPORT & ENTERTAINMENT BATTLE IT OUT IN TV RATINGS WAR.

• Position: Industry Trend or Event

Eurodata TV has fine-combed the preferences of 1.2 billion television viewers in 64 countries and reports an increase of seven minutes in average daily viewing periods to 208 minutes. France remains below this average with 193 minutes, the highest figures being reported by the United States (266 minutes), Mexico (263) and Hungary (249). On the programme front, fiction accounted for 44% of the ten highest audience figures in each country, ahead of entertainment (30%), news and special events (18%), sport (7%) and other programmes (1%). Although Eurodata TV chose for methodological reasons to retain just one sports programme per "top ten" (whence its low overall share), it appears that sport often tops ratings figures.In the 19 Western European countries surveyed, sports events topped audience figures in nine cases, in a favourable context with notably the European football Championships and the Olympic Games staged in 2000. Across the board, sport leads the way in 21 countries. The other significant trend noted last year is the astonishing success of "Who wants to be a millionaire?", which makes the "top ten" in 14 countries, along with variants of "Big Brother" and "Survivor", which appear in five tables. Variants of "Who wants to be a millionaire?", screened in several dozen countries, topped ratings figures in Ireland...