For the first time since 1998, Norway’s men’s team has qualified for a FIFA World Cup, bringing a surge of anticipation and excitement around a talented generation of players – including talisman, Erling Haaland.
In Norway, the 2026 World Cup lands directly in the summer and school holiday period – a time when routines become more mobile and viewing shifts away from the main living room. There are two distinctly Norwegian reasons out‑of‑home (OOH) is expected to be especially important this summer.
First, Norway has a strong second‑home culture. Close to half the population has access to a second home, and these homes are heavily used at weekends and during school holidays – providing the perfect environment for family screenings of the World Cup.
Second, as a football-loving nation, the social pull of the World Cup brings viewing into public venues. Bars, restaurants, hotels and large screenings will become part of the match‑watching routine, particularly when the national team is involved. Regulators have also loosened licencing restrictions to enable matches to be shown late into the night – given many of the games will kick-off from 2am.
About the Norwegian Measurement Service
Fifty5Blue has operated a hybrid TV and online video measurement service in partnership with the Norwegian Media Owners Committee since 2018. This service is built on a robust, nationally representative in‑home panel of around 3,000 individuals, complemented by a dedicated out‑of‑home panel of around 1,500 people – allowing total World Cup viewing to be captured across locations.
The out-of-home panel is enabled through a portable ‘Rate on Air’ meter that panellists carry with them. These devices pick up watermarked broadcast content wherever the person is whether their second home, a bar, restaurant or other public screening.
Bluetooth technology in the home helps determine when a portable meter is in the home versus out of the home, supporting clear reporting of “in-home” and “out-of-home” consumption. The reporting focus is therefore straightforward: main residence versus everywhere else.
The wider measurement design focuses on the core dimensions industry stakeholders need: location (in home / out of home), publication form (live, playback, on demand), and device type (TV, computer, tablet, smartphone).
A consistent ContentID approach is also essential to ensuring the detection runs smoothly whereby a unique identifier used in online tags and in linear transmission logs to support clearer reporting across platforms and content types.
Looking ahead to the tournament
The World Cup’s impact is not only its reach, but the quality of attention it creates – and that attention is often amplified out of home, where viewing becomes social and emotionally charged. For broadcasters, agencies and advertisers, this approach ensures that all viewing is counted.
Norway’s World Cup will be an important example of the enduring power of live sport to bring people together and that these collective viewing experiences happen across places as well as platforms.
As the tournament unfolds, we intend to return with viewing data to understand how audiences build across key matches, and how viewing shifts between home and out‑of‑home settings through the summer.