Paris (AFP)

The Tour de France, whose 2020 edition ended on Sunday, continued to bring together France Télévisions viewers, despite a programming shaken up by the health crisis, with audiences down slightly compared to 2019 but which remain high.

In total, "40 million viewers" watched at least one minute of the Great Loop on France 2 or France 3, or 7 million more than in 2019, welcomed the public group in a statement released on Monday.

"After months of confinement, the French wanted to see this + September tour," said AFP Laurent-Eric Le Lay, sports director at France Televisions, praising "a festive event".

With a departure shifted from June 27 to August 29 because of the Covid-19, this 107th edition was able to count on a "very well designed course", he added.

According to Médiamétrie data compiled by the group, on average, France 2 attracted some 3.5 million viewers each afternoon, or an audience share of 36%.

Figures down slightly compared to 2019 (3.7 million viewers for 38.2% of pda), a particularly prosperous year due to the public's enthusiasm for French runners.

For its part, France 3, which broadcast the stages in the early afternoon, garnered an average of 2.2 million viewers for 20% of pda (against 22.4% the previous year).

The two highest peaks of audience reached 6.3 million televiewers, "for the arrivals of the stages of Sunday August 30", with the victory of the French Julian Alaphilippe, and of Sunday September 13 at the top of the Grand Colombier.

The magazine "Vélo Club", broadcast on France 2, gathered an average of 2.1 million viewers for 20.1% of pda (against 23.2% in 2019), and signed a "record audience since 2017 at 3.7 million viewers "Sunday.

On France 3, "Le Journal du Tour" gathered an average of 2 million fans for 9% of pda (against 12% of pda in 2019).

France Televisions is also proud to have attracted more young people, more than half (55%) of 15-24 year olds having watched at least one minute of the Tour, against 30% in 2019.

An increase partly attributable to the new audience measurement of Médiamétrie "out of home" (when traveling, on tablets, smartphones, etc.), explained Laurent-Eric Le Lay.

According to the group, the digital offer linked to the Tour, "90% live", reached a record 24.6 million videos viewed on France.tv and on the France tv sport application.

© 2020 AFP