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MUMBAI: The Fédération Française de Tennis
(FFT) and MP & Silva have said that the first year of
their collaboration in distributing the European media rights
for Roland Garros has seen increased hours of coverage, higher
audiences and new channels showing the tournament.
The
collaboration with MP & Silva is the first time the FFT
has chosen to partner with an agency in Europe following an
over 30-year partnership with the European Broadcasting Union.
For
the 2012 tournament outside of the home nation (France), European
broadcast partners showed over 7,800 hours of coverage across
50 channels, an increase from the 6,629 hours of coverage
across 42 channels in 2011.
Of
the 25 broadcast partners for 2012, 12 were new, with the
likes of ITV in the UK, Cuatro in Spain, PRVA TV and B92 in
Serbia, Czech TV in Czech Republic and NTV in Turkey showing
action from Roland Garros for the first time.
In
keeping with the FFT’s commitment to ensure the widest
possible audience for its event, MP & Silva secured free-to-air
coverage in 22 countries, up from 20 in 2011. Pay-TV coverage
was provided by Eurosport across Europe and by Canal+ in Spain.
FFT’s
Media & Sponsorship Director Michel Grach said, “Our
aim is to develop our relationships with MP & Silva and
our new broadcasters still further, and to continue to improve
the quality and quantity of Roland Garros coverage for tennis
fans and tournament partners worldwide."
The
2012 distribution generated 18.8 billion viewing minutes (where
one person watching for one minute equals one viewing minute)
for the tournament, a 17 per cent increase on the 16 billion
viewing minutes achieved in 2011.
Excluding
audiences on Eurosport, the 2012 tournament generated 10.8
billion viewing minutes, a 6 per-cent increase on the 10.2
billion viewing minutes for the 2011 event.
The
increased audience was achieved despite the overlap this year
with Euro 2012 and the poor weather conditions for the men’s
final, traditionally the biggest viewing peak of the tournament.
Persistent rain forced the conclusion of the match to be postponed
24 hours and it eventually finished on Monday 11 June.
The
rain interruptions on the Sunday meant that coverage ended
up clashing with Euro 2012’s Spain v Italy group stage
match and Formula One’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.
MP
& Silva Group CEO Andrea Radrizzani said, "We are
extremely happy with the results of the first year of our
partnership with Roland Garros. We have worked together with
the Federation with full transparency in every deal done with
every broadcaster."
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