INTERVIEW
Invited on Europe 1 Friday, François Rousseaux, journalist at Parisien-Journée in France and media specialist, reviewed the biggest successes of television during the confinement. According to him, television is "the big winner" among the media, with an increase in notable audiences for certain channels and certain programs like Koh-Lanta (TF1) or C à vous (France 5).
"The French have never watched the small screen at home so much. Even if platforms like Netflix have widened their furrow, the TV has hit home," says François Rousseaux. The French, he said, watched television "4:43 a day": "This is 1.15 hours more than a year ago," notes the journalist.
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News pulls out of the game
The news channels were indeed particularly carried by containment. "In 2019, the news was down, TF1 had lost 300,000 viewers. Since the period we lived, TF1 has regained the advantage over France 2," said François Rousseaux. The continuous news channels have progressed, like CNEWS which rose to second place in June, notably following the arrival of the polemicist Éric Zemmour on set. However, "BFMTV is still the leader," says François Rousseaux.
Professor Raoult also represents one of the recipes for the success of these channels. "He was with Jean-Jacques Bourdin a fortnight ago. He brought together a million viewers: a historic record for the program," said the journalist.
#AUDIENCES JUNE 2020
️MOIS HISTORY FOR #BourdinDirect on @BFMTV (8h35 /
8h55 ) ✅19.1% of PDA
✅700,000 viewers on average
✅1st channel in France over 25/49 years
Historic record on 25/06 with 30, 4% of PDA (Guest: Didier Raoult) pic.twitter.com/DMieTigWxN
Good infotainment audiences
Certain programs combining information and entertainment (infotainment), such as Quotidien (TMC) and C à vous (France 5) have progressed considerably during confinement. For François Rousseaux, Yann Barthès (who presents Quotidien ) "has never made such scores". "The show won 300,000 viewers in one year" with "records of two million," said the specialist journalist.
For her part, Anne-Élisabeth Lemoine, presenter of C à vous , made a "flawless" during this season, receiving many doctors. "She was serious and kept a little lightness", analyzes François Rousseaux.
The unexpected cardboard from Koh-Lanta
The adventure program Koh-Lanta , broadcast on TF1, gathered more viewers than expected. "They had their best season in six years. There were almost seven million people in front of Koh-Lanta on Friday evening during the period. This is two million more than last year," summarizes François Rousseaux.
>> READ ALSO - Who is Denis Brogniart for you? "He's the guy from Koh-Lanta"
The revelation of cooking shows
During confinement, the Top Chef program experienced a real revival. For François Rousseaux, the program broadcast on the M6 channel embodies "those old brands that we thought were in decline and that have worked well," said the journalist for Parisien-Journée in France .
Another example: All in the kitchen , which was born in full confinement. The program presented by Cyril Lignac "allowed M6 to find audiences that the channel had not had in years," explains François Rousseaux. If Cyril Lignac, according to the journalist, realized "an old dream" by presenting "a cooking show live", he should not make his comeback at the start of the school year with Tous en cuisine because he has, according to François Rousseaux , "other commitments".