German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF "are considering bringing back the Tour de France into their program mix," according to Manuel Nunez Sanchez of QUOTENMETER. This year's tour, which ended on Sunday, "saw seven stage victories by German riders." ARD Sports Dir Axel Balkausky praised the young German riders, who know how to impress "through openness and a clear commitment to clean sport" as well as through success in competitions. As a result, Balkausky "is open to talk about cycling's media future." Balkausky's counterpart, ZDF Sports Dir Dieter Gruschwitz, added that the success of German riders "is an important topic." Another important issue in the discussion is the tour's current ratings. Pan-European broadcaster Eurosport, which currently holds the exclusive broadcast rights in Germany, "attracted an average of 300,000 viewers to its coverage." ARD and ZDF dropped the Tour de France seven years ago following several doping scandals (QUOTENMETER, 7/29).
FED CUP FINAL: DWDL's Alexander Krei reported free-to-air TV channel Sat.1 "will show the Fed Cup final between Germany and the Czech Republic" on Nov. 8-9. ProSiebenSat.1 Germany Managing Dir Zeljko Karajica said, "The Fed Cup final will be the year's tennis highlight on the big stage. The German women's team could become world champion and viewers could watch it on Sat.1." Last year, ProSiebenSat.1 "entered into a cooperation with the the German Tennis Federation." However, so far tennis broadcasts "were buried on Sat.1 Gold, which targets an older female audience" (DWDL, 7/30).
