The 2009 Tour de France was a major success for Versus.
Live, morning coverage of the ’09 Tour de France averaged 530,000 viewers on Versus, up 98% from last year. When including the “bonus windows leading into the regularly-scheduled telecasts,” Versus averaged 500,000 viewers, also up 98%.
The most-viewed Tour de France telecast was Stage 20, which drew 792,000 viewers. By contrast, last year’s most-viewed stage drew 425,000 viewers. The mountain stages of the race, “which tend to be the most popular among cycling fans,” averaged 619,000 viewers, up substantially from the 339,000 viewers for last year’s mountain stages.
To put the numbers in perspective, the 530,000 viewers for the ’09 Tour de France is lower than the 879,000 viewers the ’09 Stanley Cup Playoffs averaged on Versus, but tops the 353,000 viewers college football games averaged on the network in ’08. Viewership for the IRL on Versus is unavailable.
