2024-07-27 11:25:00
A record. With between 22.07 and 23.4 million viewers depending on the time slot, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on France 2, This Friday, it is among the pantheon of the best audiences in the history of French television.
According to data from Médiamétrie released this Saturday, 22.065 million people were attracted by the event on France 2, between 7:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. (while the ceremony started at 7:30 p.m.).
That is 81.5% audience share (i.e. people watching television), with a peak of 25.2 million at 9:56 p.m. The group France Televisions claims, in a press release, 23.4 million viewers, and 83.3% audience share (PDA), over the precise duration of the ceremony.
A little less good than the final of the last football World Cup
Although high, the TV audiences for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics are doing less well than those for the World Cup final won by Argentina against Les Bleus in December 2022. These had in fact gathered 24.08 million viewers on TF1, for an audience share (PDA) of 81%, according to Médiamétrie.
Two matches from the 2006 World Cup are on a par with the opening of Paris 2024: the France-Portugal semi-final, watched by 22.2 million viewers on TF1, and the France-Italy final, also watched by 22.1 million on the first channel.
These audiences are not, however, strictly comparable, as Médiamétrie has changed its measurement system several times in recent years. The opening ceremony of the Paris Games was also broadcast by the pay channel Eurosport and its streaming platform Max.
France 2 also dominates Friday
On Friday, France 2 also largely dominated its competitors with 57.2% audience share, compared to 9% for TF13,6% pour France 3 and 2.6% for M6according to Médiamétrie. From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, more than 38.1 million French people followed the antennas of France Televisionsaccording to the group’s press release.
About the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, the number two of France TVStéphane Sitbon-Gomez, said in June: ” ready to bet » on a score appearing « at least in the top 2 » of the best audiences in the history of French television.
More generally, the ” pari ” of France TV – official broadcaster of the Olympic Games with Eurosport – is that, over the duration of the event, ” 100% of French people will be in contact at one time or another with the Olympic Games (until August 10) and Paralympic Games » (from August 28 to September 8) on its channels.
For the record, Celine Dion singing from the Eiffel Tower, performances by megastars Aya Nakamura and Lady Gaga, as well as the French metal group Gojira, were among the highlights of the evening, which took place on the Seine with the monuments of Paris as a backdrop, in pouring rain.
Audiences well above those of previous Olympic Games
As for previous editions of the Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony in London, broadcast in the evening on TF1had brought together 8.8 million viewers in 2012, for 57.1% of PDA.
The one in Tokyo in 2021, broadcast in the afternoon, had allowed France 2 to bring together nearly 4 million viewers, for 37.6% of PDA. This, against 1.7 million (26.5% of PDA) for Rio in the late evening, and in the night in 2016, and nearly 5 million (48.2%) for that of Beijing 2008 in the afternoon, still on France 2.
Outside of sport, the announcement of the lockdown by Emmanuel Macron, broadcast on several channels on April 13, 2020, was followed by 36.7 million viewers, an absolute record.
Russia fires red hot bullets at the Olympic opening ceremony
Excluded from the Paris Olympics because of its assault on Ukraine, Russia said on Saturday that the opening ceremony, which sparked enthusiasm in France and abroad, had been a ” massive failure “Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out on Telegram what she considers to be numerous dysfunctions.
She notably mentioned ” the collapse of transport ” after sabotage on the French railway network and the ” spectators sat in pouring rain for hours ” while the organizers ” had not anticipated any cloud dispersion or canopies ” for this open-air ceremony. The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy also castigated the ” LGBT parody of the Last Supper “, and ” sacred subject for Christians ».
(With AFP)
1722116959
#Historic #audience #record #opening #ceremony #Paris #Olympic #Games
