The 17th UEFA European Football Championship, hosted by Germany, concluded on 14 July with Spain winning the tournament. Over the past two months, Groupe M6 broadcast 13 of the 25 matches on flagship channel M6 and streaming service M6+. In Germany, RTL Deutschland, in partnership with Deutsche Telekom, showed 12 top matches complemented by the highlights from all 51 games. The broadcast of the games, including the final, generated record audiences for both Groupe M6 and RTL Deutschland.

A streaming milestone in France

Groupe M6 launched its new streaming service M6+ in May 2024, just in time for the UEFA EURO 2024. In total, 13 games were seamlessly broadcasted on the platform, which was developed by streaming technology company Bedrock.

M6+ stood out from other local rights holders by offering engaging features to football fans, including interactive overlays with live match statistics, team line-ups, player statistics and the ability to rate the game live. The innovative technology was realised in collaboration with Ease Live.

The broadcast of the matches set audience records both on flagship channel M6 and streaming service M6+. A total of 46.9 million French people followed the competition on M6, while three million viewers watched the games on M6+. For the France versus Portugal quarter final, Groupe M6 scored its best audience figures in eight years.

According to media research company Kantar Media, the EURO 2024 brought in €145.9 million in gross advertising revenue, with Groupe M6 generating the most advertising revenue among broadcasters in France. Advertisers spent the most on the quarter final between France and Portugal, generating €16 million for Groupe M6 in advertising revenue.

A strong first half of the year 

In the first half of 2024, RTL Deutschland extended its lead over main competitor ProSiebenSat.1, with flagship channel RTL achieving its strongest first half-year audience figures since 2019. This success was driven by, among other programmes, the live matches of the UEFA EURO 2024 – broadcast with an innovative 5G network solution.

In total, RTL Deutschland broadcast 12 matches, with RTL Radio Deutschland extensively covering the games. Children’s programme Toggo showed special highlights for the young target group.

During calendar weeks 24-27, football-related programmes were the most-watched on TV and streaming. RTL’s broadcast of the Netherlands against Turkey quarter final was watched on average by 10.5 million viewers (3+), representing a total audience share of 41.2 per cent.