French TV

[matthieu1221]

Some of France's overseas regions vote a day earlier for elections. In French Polynesia the TV coverage is extra special due to the Tahitian and French language coverage having to share a single channel. Before 8pm when the results were released there was split coverage with an hour of Tahitian language coverage followed by an hour of French language coverage but from 8pm it's entirely bilingual coverage. Most interviews and live crosses are done twice, once in each language. Some reporters are bilingual while other crews are comprised of a French language and a Tahitian language reporter.

https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/polynesie...92048.html

[Roger Darthwell]

Canal+ is closing down Foot+ their dedicated TV channel for football, it's closure was unannounced and local media only found out about it when a customer called Canal+'s technical helpdesk!
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2022/06/...ters-foot/

[Medianext.MX]

Canal+ is closing down Foot+ their dedicated TV channel for football, it's closure was unannounced and local media only found out about it when a customer called Canal+'s technical helpdesk!
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2022/06/...ters-foot/

Yep, the loss of Ligue 1 rights to Amazon meant nothing to it, but the channel was being used as a dumping ground for repeats, with the Eredivisie being the lone live rights they had before closure; these rights will move to Canal+ Sport. Additionally, Canal+ has sport-specific channels available on their IPTV offerings and through myCanal, which clearly was duplicating the offering, and the channel was operating on an older, SD-only gallery which is being decommissioned by the Canal+ Group.

Back to the real world of French TV, more news in the summer season and rentrée preparations…

• To being, some bad news. Catherine Matausch, longtime weekend presenter of France 3’s 19/20, who has been absent for many months, has been diagnosed with lung cancer; she’s now in treatment and she plans to return to the airwaves after the rentrée.
  
• TF1 turns out has a new weather presenter, as LCI’s weekend weather presenter Ange Noiret filled in on election Sunday for Tatiana Silva, out positive for COVID and Evelyne Dhéliat, out on scheduled vacation. The reaction on social media has been overwhemingly positive; TF1, however, has yet to announce if he will join Dhéliat, Silva and Louis Bodin in the weather team.
  
• Karim Rissouli has announced his resignation from the weekly political show C Politique, over at France 5, to concentrate his efforts on C ce soir. His successor is TBA.
  
• TF1’s legendary reality music competition Star Academy is being rebooted, thanks to the success of its 20-year reunion last year. Nikos Aliagas, whose career was boosted with the show, will return as host of the reboot, and Kamel Ouali has been announced as the first professor coming back to the show. Additionally, the academy will be, as in the first incarnation, based in the Château des Vives Eaux in neighbouring Seine-et-Marne. The new season will relaunch shortly after the rentrée, due to TF1's commitments with The Voice and Mask Singer.
  
• TF1's Grand Concours des Animateurs has a new host: Arthur. He succeeds Alessandra Sublet, and his first special will air on July 15.
  
• Bastille Day primetime will be a real fight between live football and live classical music: TF1 will schedule a UEFA Women's Euro match between France and Italy, and France 2 will air the live classical music evening at the Eiffel Tower, followed by the fireworks display over the Seine. Given the increasing success of the national women's team, this could lead to a quite unexpected situation, as TF1's football is popular with the audience, and France 2's classical music extravaganza often leads during that night.
  
• TF1 and France 2 will also air extended coverage of the military parade. France 2 will preempt Télématin to kick-off its special from 6h30, with Julian Bugier presenting alongside Stéphane Bern, Laury Thillemann, Faustine Bollaert, Michel Drucker, Carole Gaessler, Dorothée Olliéric, Chloé Nabedian and Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet as special guest host; TF1 will begin at 7am with Anne-Claire Coudray, Gilles Bouleau, Marie-Sophie Lacarrau, Denis Brogniart and Pierre Servent, among others; coverage will be simulcast on LCI. Both offerings will lead-out into their respective 13h newscasts.
  
• Heavy controversy surrounding France Télévisions over their coverage of Macron's visit to Ukraine: the President invited journalists from TF1, France Télévisions and BFM TV for interviews he had in his train to Kiev; however, the journalists invited from FTV weren't those from their newsroom, but rather from France 5's C à vous, who sent chroniqueur Mohamed Bouhafsi to cover the event. France TV's NUJ denounced the move, qualifying C à vous as being not journalistic (indeed it isn't, it is an infotainment show) and criticising France TV management for limiting the air time for the interview until it aired in full on Friday's C à vous, even criticising Mediawan Prod (who produces the show through Troisième Œil Productions) and its CEO, Pierre-Antoine Capton for being "too close" to Macron.
  

More to follow...

[London Lite]

I suppose the latter would be the equivalent of sending Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby out to Ukraine to interview Boris Johnson as they present a infotainment topical led lifestyle programme but they're not journalists. (This Morning has an actual newsroom with journalists off-camera).

TF1 clearly have their favourite presenters, how similar it is to ITV who have a tight pool of presenters to present prime-time shows. Arthur is just that with the gigs he presents. I'll miss Alessandra Sublet on Grand Concours des Animateurs although I hope she stays on C'est Canteloup for the new season?

Best wishes to Catherine Matausch, a mainstay at weekends on France 3.

As for changes at TF1 weather, I think Tatiana Silva was the last presenter to join the team and she was at M6 and freelancing in Belgium on RTL-TVi and TV5MONDE who have their weather forecasts produced in Brussels. (Silva is Belgian). Incidentally Evelyne Dhéliat has been at TF1 for decades and used to be a speakerine, otherwise known as a in-vision announcer.

[Medianext.MX]

New details about the TF1/M6 merger are surrounding…

• Specialist publication Challenges is reporting the merged company plans to retain TF1’s newsroom and integrate M6’s smaller operation into their fold; this will indeed boost M6’s existing offerings (which after M6 took over RTL their 12h45/19h45 newscasts have been including more serious stories to compliment their otherwise lighter agenda), and benefit from the expertise of RTL’s journalists (TF1 will also take over the RTL stations as part of the merger, but no word on if TF1 plans to spin-off these).
  
• TF1 and M6 will reorganise their offerings as part of the merger: TF1 will concentrate on news and current affairs, original drama, sport and event television (specials, reality/talent shows and big events), and this is where their rentrée plans are going: TF1 has ordered three special evenings homaging Un gars, une fille (where new duos will revisit legendary sketches from the popular short series), Les Inconnus (a reunion show) and the return of the Palmashow duo for a special evening. M6, by its own part, plans to focus on family entertainment; given its more profitable programming, mostly unscripted, it is no surprise they want to focus on that, and give TF1 a more upscale offering.
  

In other headlines:

• Altice plans to launch a new website focused on true crime, RMCCrime.com, starting next Thursday. The launch of the new website is part of a plan to bolster Faites entrer l’accusé, RMC Story’s most popular show, and to give it a dedicated digital offering targeted at the show's fans. The show will launch a podcast vertical with Dominique Rizet, with new episodes premiering every Monday, in an attempt to compete with Christophe Hondelatte's podcast, which is the most popular French podcast; additionally, the site will offer the latest crime news, inside information on the show, and news on true crime-related issues and media. This will compliment Faites entrer l’accusé’s YouTube page, where viewers from France and abroad can watch the new episodes around a week after its original broadcast on LCN 23, as well as selected archive episodes from the France 2 era.
  
• After Léa Salamé announced her resignation from France 2022, Ozap/Puremédias is reporting Caroline Roux is replacing her on the show. Roux currently presents C dans l’air over on France 5, as well as Les 4 Vérités, Télématin’s political interview.
  
• Catherine Barma, Thierry Ardisson’s longtime production partner, has won a lawsuit against Laurent Ruquier on the unilateral breaking of their commercial relations and lay-offs related to it. Ruquier, who made the decision after announcing the axing of On n’est pas couché (due to low ratings and citing a need to change the format of its Saturday evening slot, hence On est en direct), must pay almost a million euros of punitive damages; he plans to appeal the decision.
  

More to follow…

[natashajacobs]

I find it interesting how people on here are interested in the changes behind the scenes of European TV (not from a pres perspective) despite most not actually watching it.

[matthieu1221]

• Altice plans to launch a new website focused on true crime, RMCCrime.com, starting next Thursday. The launch of the new website is part of a plan to bolster Faites entrer l’accusé, RMC Story’s most popular show, and to give it a dedicated digital offering targeted at the show's fans. The show will launch a podcast vertical with Dominique Rizet, with new episodes premiering every Monday, in an attempt to compete with Christophe Hondelatte's podcast, which is the most popular French podcast; additionally, the site will offer the latest crime news, inside information on the show, and news on true crime-related issues and media. This will compliment Faites entrer l’accusé’s YouTube page, where viewers from France and abroad can watch the new episodes around a week after its original broadcast on LCN 23, as well as selected archive episodes from the France 2 era.
  

One of the TF1-owned channels to be sold off with the TF1/M6 merger to be bought by Altice is rumoured to be a true-crime-focused channel.

[Medianext.MX]

• Altice plans to launch a new website focused on true crime, RMCCrime.com, starting next Thursday. The launch of the new website is part of a plan to bolster Faites entrer l’accusé, RMC Story’s most popular show, and to give it a dedicated digital offering targeted at the show's fans. The show will launch a podcast vertical with Dominique Rizet, with new episodes premiering every Monday, in an attempt to compete with Christophe Hondelatte's podcast, which is the most popular French podcast; additionally, the site will offer the latest crime news, inside information on the show, and news on true crime-related issues and media. This will compliment Faites entrer l’accusé’s YouTube page, where viewers from France and abroad can watch the new episodes around a week after its original broadcast on LCN 23, as well as selected archive episodes from the France 2 era.
  

One of the TF1-owned channels to be sold off with the TF1/M6 merger to be bought by Altice is rumoured to be a true-crime-focused channel.

Woooow! Maybe TFX? They have a sizable amount of true crime shows that could easily fit into the new remit, they only need to move the reality shows to RMC Story, given its focus on unscripted human interest content, and move FELA to the new channel. This will indeed boost both channels.

[London Lite]

Watching La Fine Équipe on France 2 this evening.   It sounds like they either used canned laughter and applause or they recorded the audience watching it at a preview screening before tx to add to the soundtrack?

The reason I think they went for it as they couldn't get all the guests in at the same time for a live recording, so I think they recorded the sketches and musical performances over a period and got an audience to watch the final cut.

[Brekkie]

A strike across France TV and other PSBs tomorrow in support of the future of public service broadcasting in the face of proposals to axe the licence fee. I guess this will affect most news and any live programming.

https://uniglobalunion.org/news/across-e...democracy/

[London Lite]

If like previous strikes, France 2's bulletins will come from the back-up 'cupboard' studio, France 3's bulletins are likely to come from their main studio with a fixed shot of the presenter while Franceinfo is very likely to be full of pre-records. Franceinfo may be lucky and put out their morning show and the 11pm bulletin using the fixed cameras. I'm not sure about the Radio France produced output which takes up part of the schedule.

[Roger Darthwell]

A strike across France TV and other PSBs tomorrow in support of the future of public service broadcasting in the face of proposals to axe the licence fee.  I guess this will affect most news and any live programming.

https://uniglobalunion.org/news/across-e...democracy/

A question, is this strike action going to happen only in France or in other countries as well?

[matthieu1221]

BFM Alsace is launching today. It's the 9th local BFM Regions channel. A tenth, BFM Normandie, will be launching this autumn.
https://www.bfmtv.com/bfmtv-et-vous/maki...70375.html

[Charles]

It's been a few weeks, but I'm disappointed that franceinfo seems to have stopped broadcasting live on YouTube. It makes it a lot harder to watch on a smart TV.

[London Lite]

It's been a few weeks, but I'm disappointed that franceinfo seems to have stopped broadcasting live on YouTube. It makes it a lot harder to watch on a smart TV.

It's still streaming on YouTube as I speak in the UK. Today the channel is showing pre-recorded output due to industrial action.