“Historical Record”. How many French people watched the Cannes Awards, where Mungiu took the Palme d'Or
The closing ceremony of the 79th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, broadcast live on France 2 on Saturday, attracted 2.8 million viewers, more than in 2025, according to data published on Sunday by Médiamétrie and cited by AFP.
The ceremony, presented by actress Eye Haidara, reached an audience share of 21%, “a historic record”, according to a statement from France Télévisions.
The actual number of viewers was the highest in the last three years, the release also states.
The ceremony reached its peak on the small screens at 21:05, when the Best Actress Award was presented to Belgian star Virginie Efira and Japanese actress Tao Okamoto for their roles in Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's “Suddenly,” a bittersweet chronicle set in a nursing home in France, notes France Presse.
The Palme d'Or, the most prestigious award of the competition, was awarded to the Romanian director Cristian Mungiu for his film “Fjord”.
🔴 The Palme d'or is awarded to “Fjord” by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu.#Cannes2026 pic.twitter.com/2ynLZrbygZ
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) May 23, 2026
France Télévisions was delighted to have “once again shared and celebrated the world's greatest film festival with everyone”.
In 2025, the ceremony averaged 2.3 million live viewers.
France Télévisions and Brut have become the official broadcasters of the Cannes competition in 2022, replacing Canal+.
