More than 22 million viewers watched the opening ceremony on France 2

Excluding speeches by the President of the Republic during the Covid-19 crisis, the audience record in France dates back to the World Cup final won by Argentina against Les Bleus, in December 2022.

The viewers were there. More than 22 million of them watched the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on France 2 on Friday evening, July 26, representing an 81.5% audience share, according to Médiamétrie data published Saturday. Celine Dion singing from the Eiffel Tower, performances by megastars Aya Nakamura and Lady Gaga, as well as the French metal band Gojira were among the highlights of the evening, which took place in pouring rain.

Excluding speeches by the President of the Republic during the Covid-19 crisis, the audience record in France dates back to the World Cup final won by Argentina against Les Bleus, in December 2022, which brought together 24.08 million viewers on TF1, for an audience share of 81%, according to Médiamétrie.

The previous record was set in 2006, for the World Cup semi-final between Les Bleus and Portugal, watched by 22.2 million viewers on TF1. That’s more than the 22.065 million attracted by the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics, as France Télévisions’ number two, Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, said in June “ready to bet” on a score appearing “at least in the top 2” of the best audiences in the history of French television.

These audiences are not, however, strictly comparable, as Médiamétrie has changed its measurement system several times in recent years. More generally, the “bet” from France Télévisions is that, over the duration of the event, “100% of French people will be in contact with the Olympic Games at one time or another [jusqu’au 11 août] and Paralympic” (from August 28 to September 8) on its channels.