This year’s French Open has been the most watched edition in history according to figures provided by broadcasters in both Europe and North America.
Eurosport, who broadcast the tournament across Europe, has reported an 18% increase in it’s Roland Garros coverage year-on-year. Besides live matches, Eurosport also presented a series of TV programmes related to the French Open. These include Game Schett & Mats, The Coach (featuring Patrick Mouratoglou) and Commissioner of Tennis episodes with John McEnroe.
“At a time when there is a general feeling that the amount of viewers watching live sport on TV is in decline, Eurosport continues to defy that belief with a record-breaking 18% audience growth for Roland Garros, building on an overall viewership increase for Eurosport 1 of 9% this year.” Said Eurosport CEO Paul Hutton.
Compared to 2016, viewers of the channel has increased by up to 123% in some countries. In Spain 407,000 people watched Rafael Nadal defeat Stan Wawrinka to win his tenth French Open title, making it the second most watched programme ever for Eurosport Spain. In Romania the channel also achieved its second highest ratings ever when Simona Halep took on Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals. A total of 780,000 viewers tuned in to watch that match.
Denmark recorded the biggest year-on-year growth thanks to Caroline Wozniacki’s run to the quarter-finals. It was the only branch of Eurosport to more than double their numbers compared to last year (an increase of 123%).
Eurosport’s French Open ratings compared to 2016
+123% in Denmark
+60% in Spain
+47% in Romania
+20% in Germany
+20% in Sweden
+18% in Norway
+15% in Italy
Tennis Channel joy
In America The Tennis Channel also welcomed its biggest audience for Roland Garros. The live broadcasting of matches attracted a 0.72 household coverage-area rating, defeating the 2014 average of 0.54 (a 33% increase). Coincidently network ratings have also risen by 33% from 0.27 to 0.36.
“Our French Open ratings validate Tennis Channel’s commitment to broadcasting first-match through last-match coverage on TV each year for fans,” said Doug Martz, senior vice president, advertising sales, Tennis Channel. “With each passing year, more fans of our sport come to see Tennis Channel as the always-on, default channel on their television sets, and the numbers we saw this year in Paris – and really so far in 2015 overall – reflect that trend.”
Earlier this year The Tennis Channel also reported increases in views for both Indian Wells (+59%) and Miami (+32%) compared to last year.
