The summer of 2024 was definitely not a good time to convey thoughtful messages about responsible screen use. Since the 2024 Paris Olympic Games started, TVs, smartphones, tablets and smart screens have been on the verge of overheating. Viewership numbers, meanwhile, for both television and digital platforms, are breaking records.

Combined, they represent a new chapter for TV. The opening ceremony was watched by 24.4 million viewers, including 1.2 million through video-on-demand (VOD) services, making the show on Paris' Seine the most-watched event on French TV. The title had previously been held by the World Cup final on December 18, 2022, which ended in Argentina's victory over France, watched by 24.08 million fans tuned in to the TF1 television channel (81% market share).

With these historic viewership figures, France 2 channel overtook TF1 for July average numbers – the first time this has happened since 1987. France 2, public television's flagship channel, as the official broadcaster of the Olympic Games along with Eurosport (a paid channel), remained at the top of the podium over the following week.

According to data published by the audience measurement company Médiamétrie on Monday, August 5, France 2 attracted 33.2% of viewers from July 29 to August 4, far ahead of TF1. With an audience share of 13.7%, TF1 had never seen its figures fall so low.

In other unprecedented situations, TF1 was closely followed by France 3 (13.6%) throughout the first week of the Olympics; while, with a 4.2% market share, the M6 channel fell back to levels close to those of France 5 (4%). France was not alone in discovering a passion for swimming and BMX. According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Olympic Games have, in the US, attracted "an average of 32.4 million viewers on NBC Universal's platforms" since they kicked off, "a 74% increase compared with Tokyo 2020."

With digital TV decoders and internet-connected TV sets, telecommunications operators have also benefited from the Olympic Games effect. "We saw a major viewership peak on France 2 during the opening ceremony, on July 26, with around five times more households connected [with] their decoders to this channel than on a normal evening," explained the telecommunications company Orange. For SFR, another such operator, traffic generated by the France TV mobile application increased sixfold on the day of the opening ceremony.

Viewership figures kept on growing along with the French medal tally, with the highlights being swimmer Léon Marchand's two victories on the evening of July 31. "France Télévisions beat its viewership record three times in a row for the Paris 2024 competition," noted the IOC, peaking at "13.15 million viewers for Léon Marchand's medal ceremony, the highest figure since Athens 2004."

You have 47.59% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.