Eurosport’s youth ratings ‘beat’ MTV’s

Eurosport claims it reaches a higher youth audience than any other cable station, including MTV, according to its research.

The station says it reaches an average quarter-hour youth audience of 65,000. This is 10,000 more than MTV, its nearest rival.

The company’s research is sourced from BARB in the UK, Intomart in the Netherlands, and GfK in Germany. MTV made no comment at the time of going to press.

The cumulative monthly reach for Eurosport was 20.5 million throughout last year.

Eurosport has increased its youth programming from 326 hours in 1996 to 400 hours this year. It includes a range of youth-oriented sports such as basketball, freestyle skiing, mountain biking, paragliding, and rollerblading.

Eurosport’s sales director Tom Keaveny says: “Sports viewing has a universal appeal which cuts across national boundaries even more than music. With sport increasingly related to fashion and lifestyle this provides advertisers with a highly receptive environment.”

According to the latest Independent Television Commission (ITC) subscriptions for April this year, Eurosport has the fifth highest penetration of all cable and satellite channels.