Executives at Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) reported a surge in streaming television viewers who watched the media firm’s coverage of the Tour de France in Europe.
In a statement on Thursday, officials at WBD said viewership of the competition broke streaming audience records, with supplemental coverage on Discovery Plus cited as one of the main reasons for the uptick.
Discovery Plus has seen a 36 percent increase in live and on-demand viewership of the Tour de France stages across 10 markets, including Germany and Austria, where the event is being offered through the streaming service for the first time.
WBD’s predecessor, Discovery Networks, owns the pan-European sports channel Eurosport, which has the telecast rights to the Tour de France in several countries. Eurosport coverage grew 3 percent compared to last year, which helped set viewership records in Spain, the company said.
Following the first three stages of the event, Discovery Plus and Eurosport saw their streaming audiences increase 5 percent compared to 2022, executives affirmed.
Specific viewership figures were not released by the company.
The Tour de France was offered on Discovery Plus in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden the United Kingdom and Ireland.
