Holding the exclusive free-to-air FIFA World Cup rights in France, M6 Group, which has posted a Q1 consolidated revenue of €297.7 million (€314.9 million at Q1 2025, down 5.5 per cent), is anticipating a strong audience and growing ad revenues for Q2.

This could compensate for the decline over the Q1 2026, as M6 Group saw a total of €239 million ad revenues, down 5.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.

The group’s consolidated EBITA improved by €1 million to €49.1 million, as well as the operational margin that rose to 16.5 per cent.

M6 reported a 23.6 per cent growth of streaming revenue in Q1 and a 14 per cent rise of the number of M6+ users. It forecasts streaming revenue to rise above €200 million in 2028 with more than 1 billion hours viewed.

In parallel, it maintains the setting up of its €80 million cost-reduction plan for 2030.

“2026 will be an atypical year for the M6 Group which, for the first time in its history, will be the exclusive broadcaster of all the free-to-air matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026,” predicted David Larramendy, chairman of M6 Group executive board.

“We intend to maximise this formidable opportunity highly anticipated by advertisers, who will benefit from massive audiences for their brands,” he suggested.

Nevertheless, the FIFA World Cup will negatively impact M6’s 2026 operational profitability, the group added.

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Tags: france, m6, World Cup