"Proof that normal life is resuming: there are no longer any French at Roland Garros", joke some, for a few days, in the premises of France Televisions.
In less than a week, all French players competing in singles were eliminated.
Unheard of since the start of the open (professional) era in 1968.
“We are all dependent on the course of the French. And it is true that we did not have the peak of last year with Hugo Gaston
(Editor's note: particularly killer of Stanislas Wawrinka)
”, recognizes Laurent-Eric Le Lay, the sports director of France Télévisions, co-broadcaster of the competition.
Not enough to panic the public service. “Our audiences are fairly stable,” he assures us. And we even manage to have an increasing market share compared to the 2020 edition
(Editor's note: which was exceptionally held from September 27 to October 11)
, but also to that of 2019. ”On average, since the beginning of the competition, nearly 1.3 million viewers follow the afternoon matches on France 2, or 14.6% of the public. On La Deux, it is even a record in audience share for six years - and almost ten years for young people.
“We have done a lot of work to maintain ourselves despite certain exclusives on Amazon, welcomes Laurent-Eric Le Lay.
These results are a real satisfaction and allow us to be a real showcase for tennis, despite the absence of French in competition now.
"
Scores on the rise on France 4
Above all, as every year, the audiences progress as the noose tightens. The peak was even recorded on Sunday, with 2.8 million curious before the match between Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Argentinian Federico Delbonis, yet not headliners. Another reason for satisfaction: the progression of scores on France 4, a channel saved in extremis by Emmanuel Macron. "It's a real plus for us," enthuses the manager. We are happy to be able to use it to continue broadcasting matches, when France 2 and France 3 must make way for newspapers, for example. The few sets broadcast like this after 8 pm on channel 14 brought together 625,000 people on average (3.4% of PDA), ie an increase of 140,000 fans in one year.
If France Télévisions is proud of its results, it is radio silence at Amazon, which exclusively programs the matches of the Simonne-Mathieu court as well as the evening matches until Wednesday. As usual, the web giant refuses to reveal any figure. In the corridors of Roland-Garros, a rumor circulates in spite of everything: Prime Video would gather only… 90,000 subscribers at most in front of its tennis offer. "And off-line consumption is non-existent," says a market connoisseur.
The public service refuses to comment on its new rival. But admits having "still the lack of some evening games". Like in particular the Richard Gasquet-Rafael Nadal clash on June 3 or the last match of Roger Federer, winner of the German Koepfer before withdrawing for the round of 16. "But with now the start of the matches broadcast on our channels at 11 am, against 15 hours previously, we are able to increase our coverage," recalls the sports boss of France Televisions.