Paris (AFP)

The debate between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour was followed by 3.81 million viewers on average, allowing BFMTV to dominate Thursday evening with an audience share (PDA) of 18.7%, ahead of TF1 and very far ahead of France 2, according to data from the channel and Médiamétrie.

The continuous news channel, which organized the duel between the leader of rebellious France and the polemicist, who no longer hides his presidential ambitions without being a candidate, thus signs the second best score in its history.

In April 2017, 5.5 million viewers on average had watched the debate between the eleven presidential candidates on BFMTV, for a PDA of 28%, the channel reminded AFP.

Thursday's debate was also watched by 500,000 young people aged 15 to 34, she said on Friday.

For its part, France 2, which launched the first issue of its political show "Elysée 2022", attracted only 1.05 million viewers on average, for a PDA of 5.1%, according to Médiamétrie.

The right-wing primary candidate Valérie Pécresse notably faced the Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanin.

In 2nd position, the punchy series of TF1 "Fugueuse", on adolescent prostitution, gathered nearly 3.6 million viewers for its first two episodes, ie a PDA of 18.2%.

© 2021 AFP