The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, aired on France 2, was watched by between 23.2 and 23.4 million viewers, making it among France’s most-viewed TV spectacles.
Data released by analysts Médiamétrie on Saturday revealed that 23.2 million spectators watched the event, which started at 19:30 and ended around 23:30. In France, the broadcast accounted for 83.1% of total television viewership with a peak of 25.2 million viewers at 21:56.
This viewing figure, though sizeable, fell short of the 24.08 million audience who watched the World Cup Final in which Argentina beat France in December 2022, aired on TF1.
However, it surpassed two matches from the 2006 World Cup: the semi-finals between France-Portugal (watched by 22.2 million) and the final between France-Italy (22.1 million viewers), both on TF1. These figures are not strictly comparable due to changes in Médiamétrie’s measurement system.
In addition to France 2, the pay-TV channel Eurosport and its streaming service Max also broadcast the opening event.
Compared to previous Summer Olympics: the 2012 London opening ceremony, aired in the evening on TF1, drew 8.8 million viewers (57.1% share); the Tokyo 2021 ceremony, shown in the afternoon, attracted nearly 4 million for France 2 (37.6% share); 1.7 million (26.5% share) watched the ceremony in Rio in the late evening in 2016; almost 5 million (48.2%) watched the Beijing ceremony in 2008 in the afternoon, both on France 2.
The highest viewership numbers were for President Emmanuel Macron’s 2020 confinement announcement, which pulled in an unsurpassed 36.7 million spectators across various channels.
