French viewers were more inclined to switch channels than cheer on Les Fatals Picards this year, as France 3 viewing figures for the contest slumped as the country garnered a meagre joint 22nd placing.

The Eurovision Song Contest final managed an average viewership of just under 3.5 million people this year on France 3, representing only an 18.5% audience share. A TV series on TF1 and a football match on France 2 both took the lion's share of the viewers at home, at 29.1% and 34.3% of the potential audience respectively. Overall in last week's figures, the show does not even make the top five most watched programmes on television, a worrying sign that French viewers are increasingly turned off by the contest. Last year's final in Athens mustered up a slightly more impressive 5.2 million viewers.

The 2007 semifinal was broadcast on France 4, and although no viewing figures are available for its audience share yet, the figures are likely to be disappointingly meagre.