The time for worry already seems far away for TF1 and BeIn Sports, the two TV broadcasters in France of the World Cup in Qatar. Regardless of the calls for a boycott and the unprecedented date chosen by FIFA, football audiences have been good so far. The big victory of the Blues against Australia (4-1) for its entry into the competition was followed by 12.5 million people on TF1, Tuesday, November 22. The best audience since June 2021, all channels combined. The marketing price of the thirty-second advertising spot was, that evening, 245,000 euros, according to our information. A price higher than the 200,000 euros for France-Denmark, scheduled for Saturday November 26 at 5 p.m., and the 120,000 euros for France-Tunisia, which will take place on Wednesday November 30 at 4 p.m., this match theoretically having less at stake.
Either way, broadcasters are keeping their fingers crossed for the France team to go as far as possible in the competition, which would drive up costs for advertisers. The marketing price of the thirty-second advertising spot had reached 280,000 euros for the 2018 final, France-Croatia, and could soar to 330,000 euros this year… provided that the Blues go all the way. “The growth in the marketing price of the advertising spot during the World Cup final would thus be nearly 20% compared to 2018”analyzes Augustin Pénicaud, vice-president of Havas Play, specializing in supporting brands in sport and entertainment.
The public also seems to have responded from the start of the World Cup which opened on Sunday, November 20, with the broadcast of the Qatar-Ecuador match and brought together 5.1 million viewers on TF1, according to Médiamétrie. An honorable score because, four years earlier, the Russia-Saudi Arabia meeting had been watched by just under 4 million viewers, even if it took place on a Thursday and not a Sunday.
A showcase for BeIN Sports
Although it has been disputed since its award by FIFA in 2010, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar still represents a strategic issue for the media, both financially and in terms of image. For this edition, TF1 will broadcast twenty-eight posters live – all the matches of the Blues and the final – out of a total of sixty-four matches and will devote up to twenty « primes ». In order to be able to broadcast matches live at 8 p.m., the channel chose to advance its schedule to 7:15 p.m. for three weeks in a row. An unusual schedule which must be maintained until December 6 to favor football but could weaken the audience of the television news of the first channel during the group stages. Anne-Sophie Lapix’s newspaper on France 2, for example, far outstripped that of Gilles Bouleau on TF1, Monday, November 21 (28.4% audience share compared to 14.3%, according to figures from Médiamétrie ).
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