Television takes stock of 2021, and the 24-hour news channels are once again doing well. 2021 has thus been a very good year for CNews. According to figures published by Médiamétrie on Monday, the channel’s audiences increased by 0.6 points in one year. CNews achieves 2% audience share, against 0.8% in 2019. However, BFMTV remains the most watched news channel, with 2.9% audience share for the second year in a row. It concentrates 43% of the news channel audience, with an average of 12.3 million viewers.
For its part, LCI fell slightly, with 0.1 point less compared to 2020. As for Franceinfo, the level of its audiences remained stable in 2021.
More viewers, but less time
And news channels are not the only ones to progress this year. TF1 and France 2 keep their first and second place in the ranking of audiences. And these two chains also have better numbers than last year. This year, TF1 recorded 70 of the 100 best audiences and France 2 has seen its best figures since 2012, with 14.7% of French people who responded in 2021 for this public service channel.
These good figures coexist with another phenomenon: the French have watched less television this year. On average, they spent 3:41 hours each day in front of their screen. This is 17 minutes less than in 2020. This difference is of course explained by a year 2021 almost deconfined compared to the year 2020, during which the French had spent a record time in front of their TV.
A good summer surprise
The overall television viewing time in 2021 has therefore in reality returned to its pre-health crisis level, always with moments of major meetings during prime time broadcasts. Every evening at 9 p.m., an average of 24 million French people watch their TV.
But the real surprise of the 2021 record is that the French were also in front of their posts this summer. “The summer of 2021 was a period when TV was particularly watched, while it is a traditionally rather slack period for the TV media, it is a period when we watch less TV”, explains to Europe 1 Laurence Deléchapt, “TV & Cross Médias” director of Médiamétrie.
“This year, the summer was particularly popular with the French, in particular because there was the broadcast of major sporting events, with the Olympic Games and the Euro football”, she specifies.
A now multi-screen audience calculation
Like every year, most of these figures are calculated using a panel of 5,000 households where audiometers are connected to the television set. But, for the second consecutive year, other screens are taken into account. “This historic home hearing is completed by a second panel of 7,500 individuals who have agreed to wear a miniature audimeter permanently”, indicates Laurence Deléchapt. “It allows us to measure the audience, regardless of where people are. And all screens are taken into account. If our panelists watch TV on a PC, phone or tablet, that audience is counted. . “
Among the unmissable programs of the PAF, the Enfoirés show and the Miss France 2022 contest continue to be a hit with, respectively, 9.6 million and 7.3 million viewers in 2021.