Of the 100 best audiences for television dramas in 2020, 95 were signed by French works, against 85 in 2019. “A result that had not been achieved for at least 15 years,” announces the Center national du cinema and the drawn image (CNC) in a study published on Tuesday.

The organization analyzes all the fiction programs - excluding cinematographic and animated works - broadcast in 2020 on historical channels (TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal +, M6 and Arte), which represent the bulk of the financing of French fiction.

The most watched work in 2020, by 8.3 million viewers, was the first part of the TV movie

Why I live

, the biopic on Gregory Lemarchal, on TF1.

By way of comparison, the best American fiction audience had gathered 5.8 million viewers in front of

The Resident

.

American fiction down 40% in 10 years

French fiction is at the top of the list of best fiction audiences for the sixth year against the backdrop of a continuous decline in the supply of American fiction (-40% in ten years).

Last year, it fell 7.6%, marking the fifth consecutive year of contraction.

The study also notes a slight decline in the number of evenings devoted to fiction on historical channels: 787 in 2020, or 27 less than in 2019 (-3.3%).

This is the lowest level reached since 2010.

The relatively limited impact of the pandemic

"The channels had to make savings in their costs to cope with the collapse of the advertising market" due to the pandemic, favoring less expensive programs, comments the CNC.

However, the channels broadcast 55 new series in the first part of the evening, the same number as in 2019.

More generally, the impact of the pandemic on audiovisual production assisted by the CNC was relatively limited on the overall production volume with a decline of 11.6%, estimates the institution in another report.

In detail, if fiction and animation have held up well, documentaries and the broadcasting of shows have on the other hand seen their volumes drop due to health restrictions.

Television

"Why I live": Telling the life of Grégory Lemarchal is "an exercise in transmitting emotion"

Television

"HPI": The TF1 series carried by Audrey Fleurot is still a hit with audiences

  • Television

  • TV audience

  • TF1