About 5.2 million viewers watched the great victory of the French women’s soccer team against Morocco (4-0) in the round of 16 of the World Cup this Tuesday, according to Médiamétrie data published this Wednesday. This is the best crowd score for Les Bleues since the start of the competition. However, this figure is still significantly lower than the viewership of the last Women’s World Cup, as well as those for the matches of their male counterparts. These include, among other things, the times of broadcast of matches in France, often in the morning or at noon, but not only.
Audience well below the men’s World Cup
During previous matches, in the group stage, the Bleues were watched by 3.4 million (France v Jamaica at M6 on July 23), 4.3 million (France v Brazil at France 2 on July 29) and 3.9 million (Panama v France on France 2 August 2) viewers. France – Morocco achieved a share of 45.7% in viewership. This means that more than four out of ten spectators in front of the TV were watching the game at that time. The match was broadcast at 1 pm due to the time difference with Oceania, where the competition is held.
This audience remains significantly lower than that achieved by the French men’s team. For comparison, his victory in the round of 16 against Poland (3-1) at the 2022 World Cup was watched by 14.3 million viewers on the afternoon of December 4.
But the layout doesn’t explain everything. At the same stage of the competition, Blues are seen much less than their male colleagues. As proof, we can take the example of the France – Denmark group match during the 2022 Men’s World Cup in South Korea. The meeting was also broadcast in the morning, at 8:30 a.m. French time, and was watched by more than 9 million viewers.
The French women’s national football team’s viewership record dates back to June 2019, during the World Cup in France, with almost 12 million viewers (TF1 and Canal+) for the round of 16 winner against Brazil.
However, we were close to disaster in the telecast of the matches. The threat of a black screen has been around for a long time on the 2023 edition of the Women’s World Cup, organized in Australia and New Zealand, due to the reluctance of Western audiovisual broadcasters to take out the checkbook in the face of highly uncertain viewing outcomes given the time difference. Following a wide-ranging agreement announced by Fifa in mid-June involving around thirty countries, France Télévisions and M6 acquired the rights to the event, allowing it to be broadcast unencrypted in France.
Guest at 7:50 am
