It’s not just on the pitch that Antoine Dupont and his buddies wow the gallery. Since their Grand Slam last year, audiences have never been so strong. Thus, this Saturday, for a match in the middle of the afternoon, Fabien Galthié’s men attracted 5.7 million viewers. With a peak audience of 7 million.
A result that confirms the current trend where TV audiences have never been so good. “There, the audiences achieved by the XV of France on this Tournament, where we only have matches scheduled in the afternoon, it has been fifteen years since we had seen that”, rejoiced before the last match Matthieu Lartot, the happy commentator of France 2.
The previous week, the resounding victory of the Blues in England (10-53) had attracted 7.2 million people with a peak at 9.2 million.
Better still, it is not only the matches of the French team that seduce viewers but also the other matches of the Six Nations Tournament where France does not play. Thus, on Saturday, before the match of the XV of France, the Scotland-Italy match was watched by 2.28 million curious people, for a kind of aperitif before the France-Wales feast. And after the Blues match, 4.4 million viewers watched Ireland achieve the Grand Slam against England. This score beats the previous record which dated from last week when the Scotland – Ireland match attracted 3.5 million people.
In short, the broadcasters of the World Cup (TF 1, M6 and France Télévisions) can rub their hands before this competition which will take place in France from September 8 to October 28 next.