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Business of TV Sport
Sportel Monaco 2011

Ageing Roland Garros audience drops again

Domestic television audiences for this year’s French Open tennis championships at Roland Garros fell for the third year in succession as the early elimination of French players and a clash with the national football team’s World Cup warm-up matches took its toll.
Average audiences across public-service channels France 2 and France 3 fell to 1.506 million, down 15 per cent on 2009 and 19 per cent in comparison to 2008. Also of concern to the Fédération Française de Tennis (FFT), the French tennis federation, will be signs that the Roland Garros audience is ageing.

Statistics from Eurodata TV Worldwide show that 55.9 per cent of the audience this year was over 50, compared with 51.2 per cent in 2009. The Open audience is significantly older than that for other sports events, such as Formula One motor racing and Uefa Champions League football.

For the full story see the latest issue of TV Sports Markets.