Record numbers watch Euro victory in Spain

Spain's historic 4-0 thumping of Italy in the Euro 2012 final drew the highest TV viewership of any football match in the nation's history, industry figures showed on Monday.

An average 15.481 million people, or 83.4 percent of the audience, saw Spain take an unprecedented third straight international title, said Kantar Media data released by analysts Barlovento Comunicacion.

It was the greatest audience recorded in Spain for a football match, and the third most-watched programme in Spanish history, Barlovento Comunicacion said in a statement.

Only two programming sections beat it for audience:

-- In top place was the 13-minute penalty shoot-out in the June 27 Euro semi-final in which an average 18.141 million people saw Spain beat Portugal to land a place in the finals;

-- And in second place was the 30 minutes of extra-time from the same match against Portugal, seen by 16.485 million people.