Cycling / Spectrum: Grand Départ in Düsseldorf, two teams with a German license, five stage wins by Marcel Kittel - yes, the Tour de France 2017 was quite enjoyable from a German point of view. This is also shown by the ratings, which have increased significantly in comparison to the previous year both in the public broadcasting and in Eurosport.
After many difficult years, cycling seems to be on the right track in this country, also in the eyes of the public. This was clearly evident on site in Düsseldorf, when thousands of fans cheered for the drivers for hours despite the pouring rain. The ratings that have now been published by the two broadcasting stations, ARD and Eurosport, further confirm this upward trend.
An average of 1,34 million viewers watched the broadcast on ARD, which mostly covered the last 90 minutes of each day's stage. That is a market share of 10,8% and a significant increase compared to the previous year's figures (1,18 million / 9,7 percent). In any case, Axel Balkausky, sports coordinator at ARD, is extremely satisfied: “There was a lot of interest, especially on site at the route on the first two days of the tour in Germany. In addition, the tour this year was sportively more exciting than it had been for a long time. Overall, there is a steadily growing interest in the Tour de France.”
Eurosport recently secured the broadcasting rights for the Grand Boucle until 2023 and, like ARD, saw a significant increase in viewers. The entire stage was broadcast daily, with an average of 0,33 million viewers. According to their own statements, this is almost 30% more than in the previous year.