More than 26m people watched FA Cup television as football fans witnessed one of the most famous Fourth Round weekends in living memory.
Fourth Round highlights
- More than 26 million watched FA Cup football over the weekend
- Cambridge United v Man Utd peaked at 7.1 million
- Most watched Match of the Day of the season
- Six million tuned in to Fifth Round draw
BBC beat last season’s terrestrial figures for the Fourth Round by almost three million, while BT Sport eclipsed their own viewing figures for the same stage last season by 600,000.
It was the most watched Saturday night Match of the Day of the season with an extra one million on top of their regular audience tuning in to see Bradford City hit four past Chelsea – and Middlesbrough put an end to Manchester City’s FA Cup hopes with a 2-0 win at the Etihad.
FA Cup fever had started on the Friday night with a peak time audience of 7.1 million tuning into BBC One to watch League Two Cambridge United hold Manchester United to a 0-0 draw.
BT Sport broke the one million barrier twice over the weekend as Bolton Wanderers held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Saturday night and holders Arsenal saw off Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 on Sunday.
Middlesbrough and Bradford's shock results drew record viewing figures for Match of the Day
The FA Cup Fifth Round draw took place on BBC One on the One Show, and it turned out to be a big hit with almost six million fans tuning in.
It was a similar story on the terraces with the highest average attendance (24,413) for the Fourth Round in eight years, while the 16 ties averaged at almost 80 per cent stadium capacity.
Arsenal’s visit to Brighton’s Amex Stadium set an attendance record for the Seagulls in their new home.
And the ties at Cambridge Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Bristol City, Liverpool, Birmingham City, Spurs and Southampton had near sell-out crowds.
