Some 11 million viewers watched France’s narrow victory over Belgium (1-0) in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 football on Monday on TF1, according to figures from Médiamétrie published on Tuesday.
This audience of exactly 10.99 million viewers is significantly higher than that of the previous match of the Blues, broadcast at the same time of 6:00 p.m., on June 25 against Poland in the first round (9.3 million viewers, 1-1).
Previously, the first two matches of the French team, against Austria on June 17 (1-0) and then the Netherlands on the 21st (0-0), had respectively attracted 11.2 and 10.2 million viewers. They were scheduled at 9:00 p.m., a more favorable time.
The match against Austria had the best audience on French television since the beginning of the year.
France-Belgium achieved an audience share of 56.5%, which means that more than half of the viewers watching TV at that time were watching it.
France will face Portugal in the quarter-finals on Friday at 9:00 p.m.
So far, the Blues’ matches at this Euro, broadcast by TF1 or M6, seem to have lower audiences than those of the previous edition in 2021, even if the figures cannot be strictly compared because Médiamétrie has changed its measurement system in the meantime.
This difference is largely attributed to the high political news, with the early legislative elections, which may have reduced the media exposure of the Euro.
In 2021, France’s elimination in the round of 16 against Switzerland on penalties was watched by more than 16.3 million viewers.
The first three matches of the Blues at Euro-2021, against Germany, Hungary and then Portugal, had respectively attracted 15.1 million, 12.3 million and 15.6 million viewers.
