“The regions will be at the heart of TF1’s morning show” (Ara Aprikian, deputy general director of content at TF1)

2024-01-07 04:10:00

LA TRIBUNE SUNDAY – Many new features are being launched this Monday, starting with a morning news show. A first in over thirty years. Why this choice ?

ARA APRIKIAN – TF1 has the most powerful offering in terms of information, with two events that outperform: the 1 p.m. and the 8 p.m. We wanted to create a third between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. because we think there is is in high demand from the public at this time. We called this morning Bonjour ! to make it clear to the French that we want to wake them up in a good mood. And this despite the vicissitudes of current events. Its presenter, Bruce Toussaint, will be surrounded by excellent professionals and we can already sense a group dynamic behind the scenes, even before its launch.

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What audience are you targeting for your LCI morning show?

A younger audience more anchored in the territories. The regions will be at the heart of this new program, thanks to the teams mobilized throughout France. As for its audience, we obviously know that it will take time to build new habits among viewers. But we are very optimistic about its ultimate success.

Another novelty, or rather “relaunch”: that of More beautiful lifestopped in 2022 by France 3. Is there room for a third series, in addition to Tomorrow belongs to us and D’Here it all begins ?

I don’t see why there wouldn’t be! What made the modernity of More beautiful life, this is also its regional anchor, in Marseille. We will also broadcast the soap opera just after the 1 p.m. news because our audience analyzes revealed to us that the viewer profiles of the two programs were very similar. But we will also offer it on TFX at 8:25 p.m., like at the time of France 3, so that the most faithful can get back to their habits. And all episodes will be immediately available on our new TF1+ platform.

Exactly, what will this platform launched tomorrow look like?

The objective is to make it the first free streaming platform in France. It illustrates our digital acceleration strategy. Concretely, fifteen thousand hours of programs will be accessible at any time. Obviously the broadcast content – which will now be available for longer – but also a catalog of 200 cinema films and 200 series in full. There will also be exclusive news content. For example the Top Info, every day at 7 p.m. It will consist of five pieces of information chosen and deciphered by the editorial staff.

Is it really possible to fight against giants like Netflix?

Our battle is to make our free content visible compared to that of competing platforms which are paid for. We want to highlight the richness of the premium and modern offering from the TF1 group. TF1+ will be available everywhere and with great promotion: on boxes, connected televisions, computers and even smartphones. There will also be very innovative features such as Top Chrono, which will offer match summaries with a duration chosen by the public: five, ten or fifteen minutes.

TF1 remained well ahead in 2023, with an 18.6% audience share, compared to 18.7% in 2022. But the gap is narrowing with France 2, which went from 14.8% to 15.3 %. Does this worry you?

No way ! You have to look at the audience of each group and not just channel by channel. In 2023, the TF1 group increased by 0.3 points while France Télévisions decreased by 0.1 points. This shows that France 2 has progressed to the detriment of other channels in the France Télévisions group. Today, TF1 is significantly the leader. And this year we will continue to invest massively in creation. The year of TMC, driven by Dailyis also very satisfactory.

In fiction, what will be the big highlights of 2024?

We will continue to put new heroes on the air, as we did in 2023 with Muriel Robin in Master Crimes and Julien Doré in Panda, with excellent audiences to boot. Both will have a second season. In 2024, for example, we will propose Mademoiselle Holmes with Lola Dewaere, Market with Arnaud Ducret and Manon Azem or even Daron with Didier Bourdon. We will also launch miniseries like Brocéliande with Nolwenn Leroy. At the end of the year, we will broadcast the highly anticipated adaptation of the Japanese manga Cat’s Eyes.

And for the future, do you have other fictions in preparation?

Yes, I can reveal to you in preview two very important fictions for us which will arrive on the air at the end of 2024, beginning of 2025. The first will be the adaptation of the novel All the blue of the sky, by Mélissa Da Costa, which is a phenomenon in bookstores. It’s one of the biggest hits of recent years! This is a popular and extremely touching novel. The second is also a literary adaptation, international this time. This is the detective collection with the characters of Erica Falck and Patrik Hedström, written by the Swedish Camilla Läckberg, one of the greatest crime writers in Scandinavia.

On the entertainment side, the TF1 group will relaunch Secret Story. When and on which channel?

It will happen in the first half of the year, but we haven’t decided on which channel yet. On the other hand, I can announce to you that the program will be hosted by Christophe Beaugrand [il l’avait déjà présenté sur NT1 entre 2015 et 2017]. He is as comfortable in the news sector – he will be one of the columnists for TF1’s morning show – as in hosting major popular entertainment events. This new season of Secret Story will return to the fundamentals of the game, with intrigue, investigation and a lot of humor. And above all, we want it to be “good-natured”.

Camille Combal is one of the animators on whom you are banking a lot. Are you going to give him other shows?

We have many very talented animators in the group, and the family has grown this year with the successful arrival of Isabelle Ithurburu. Camille embodies two very powerful brands: Mask Singer et Dance with the stars. He also launched a more personal show, Camille & images, which we are very satisfied with. Camille is a great host, but he is also a very good actor. Moreover, we work with him on fiction projects. He has already had some acting experience in the past, but never a leading role. We really want to see him act.