The debut season of MotoGP coverage on Canal Plus attracted an average audience of 412,000 subscribers for races taking place during the early afternoon timeslot, the French pay-TV broadcaster has said.
The viewing figures released by the broadcaster, and reported by L’Équipe, highlight a 66-per-cent jump on last season’s equivalent French pay-TV audience on Eurosport.
Canal Plus replaced Eurosport, the MotoGP broadcaster in France since 1992, as the rights-holder in in a five-year deal running from 2019 to 2023.
The Grand Prix of the Netherlands attracted the highest audience of the year on Canal Plus with 576,000 subscribers following the action.
Thierry Cheleman, Canal Plus’ director of sports, said: “MotoGP successfully complements the motor sports offering of the Canal+ channels. Alongside Formula 1, Indy Car and now the WRC [World Rally Championship], MotoGP commands a very strong value among our subscribers.”
Canal Plus airs all MotoGP races live on its pay-television channels, with two races per year also broadcast on its free-to-air C8 channel. This season, the two races shown on C8 were the races in France and Catalonia.