France TV holds rights to this year’s Six Nations Championship, but has sub-licensed a package out to TF1. (David Rogers/Getty Images)

The opening game from rugby union's 2026 Six Nations Championship – held on a Thursday night for the first time – delivered major audience figures for France Televisions (the domestic broadcaster) as the home country defeated Ireland.

For France’s 36-14 win in Paris yesterday, France TV brought in 7.24 million viewers on average, equating to a 39% audience share.

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This represents a record for the opening game of a Six Nations campaign (the national teams tournament also featuring England, Scotland, Wales, and Italy) on France TV.

The broadcaster holds domestic Six Nations rights through 2029, in a deal unveiled in mid-2025. Last month, however, France TV agreed a sub-licensing deal for a significant package of games from this year's tournament with commercial broadcaster TF1, which is set to offer live coverage of nine games (including two France matches).

The opening game of last year's Six Nations – which also involved France, who beat Wales in that encounter – brought in 6.67 million viewers for France TV. That translated into a 35.8% audience share.

TF1 will air France's next Six Nations encounter, as the favorites take on Wales on February 15 (next Sunday).

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The remaining games in the opening round, meanwhile, see Italy take on Scotland, and England face Wales, with both taking place tomorrow.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that UK commercial broadcaster ITV, covering a significant number of Six Nations games this year, will air in-game commercials for the first time as part of its coverage.

ITV’s rights package for the competition, struck last March and running through 2029, includes the option to air two split-screen adverts before a scrum is set in each half of every Six Nations match.

This new element of ITV's coverage got underway during last night's clash.