Eurosport tops 50m for summer events
September 24, 2013
Eurosport has reported one of its best ever summer audience results, attracting over 50 million different European viewers for each of the major events broadcast on its channels. Eurosport’s core sports of cycling, tennis, football and Olympic disciplines all achieved increased audiences to its extensive live coverage and expert presentation.
The 100th Tour de France was historic in terms of audiences: Eurosport attracted 53 million viewers, its best audience reach for the event since 2009 reflecting the in-depth programming, on-site journalists, live previews and dedicated magazine shows which made up the channel’s coverage.
Football kicked off summer action on June 21st with the FIFA Under-20 World Cup watched by 54.1 million viewers throughout the tournament on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 (+ 16 per cent vs. 2011 previous edition).
In July host broadcaster Eurosport showed every match of the UEFA Women’s EURO live and drew 55 million fans to the competition. On-site presentation and expert commentary helped to generate a 53 per cent increase in average audience, compared to the 2009 edition in Finland.
Swimming and Athletics World Championships in Barcelona and Moscow also broke the 50 million mark respectively with 50.3 million and 51.8 million viewers. Live coverage of both events led by expertise from Olympic Champions Pieter van den Hoogenband and Maurice Greene saw strong audience reach increases on Eurosport: +45 per cent for Barcelona and + 22 per cent for Moscow, compared to the previous 2011 editions.
Finally, multi-court coverage and a line-up of star consultants featuring Marion Bartoli, Mats Wilander, Amélie Mauresmo and Henri Leconte helped to bring the excitement of the 2013 US Open to 55.4 million tennis fans on Eurosport and Eurosport 2 (+3 per cent vs. 2012). The event also performed strongly on mobile with 556,000 daily visitors in average on Eurosport.com, a record 77 per cent increase compared to the 2012 tournament.