MADRID -- Building share and viewers, Universal Studios' 13eme Rue was France's most-watched pay TV channel between Sept. 1 and Feb. 15, according to research company Mediametrie's MediaCabSat report.
The Gallic version of Universal's international horror-action channel hiked its share of cable and satellite auds from 0.9% to 1%. 13eme Rue weekly viewers grew year-on-year from 6.5 million to 7.2 million.
However, 13eme Rue may have won on a technicality: Mediametrie no longer computes commercial broadcast giant TF1's much-watched Eurosport in its cable/satellite charts.
Mediametrie's latest half-year results also show other U.S. channels building auds in Gaul.
Disney Channel rose from 0.5% and 2.26 million weekly viewers to a 0.7% share and 3.26 million.
Kids' action-adventure service Jetix, also part of the Disney stable, nabbed 0.7% and 2.8 million eyeballs.
"Lower average viewership for roughly similar shares suggests less casual viewing -- that viewers watch longer," explained Mediametrie's Laure Osmanian Molinero.
Also kicking high shares were Gallic commercial broadcaster M6's femme-skewed Teva, with 0.8%, and Lagardere Active's kids' channel Canal J, Canal Plus' Comedie, and M6/TF1's U.S. and Gallic TV fiction drama feed, Serie Club.
Total auds for the period rose from 16.87 million to 17.03 million year-on-year, suggesting the recession has yet to erode pay TV viewership in France.
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