TF1: "The 2020-2021 season was that of all records for fiction"

Fabrice Bailly, director of programs and acquisitions of the TF1 group, is the guest on Friday of the program "Culture Médias" to take stock of the 2020-2021 season which is coming to an end.

He congratulated Philippe Vandel on a record year for fiction on TF1, boosted by five new French series.

INTERVIEW

There are years when the balance sheet of the season is an easy exercise. This is the case for TF1, signing almost faultlessly on the side of fiction in 2020 to 2021, with the successful launch of five new French series: 

HPI

, 

Promise

, 

Gloria

, 

Substitute 

and 

Plan B

. "It was a bit of the season for all records in fiction", welcomes Friday in

Culture Media

 Fabrice Bailly, director of programs and acquisitions of the TF1 group. "We reach 6.3 million viewers on average on all the new series. And we made 27 of the top 30 French drama audiences over the season."

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And among its new series, 

HPI

, the series of all records.

The character of Audrey Fleurot has attracted 11.5 million viewers, or 45% of audience share and 52% of women responsible for purchases under 50 years.

 HPI

becomes the third most watched French series in the history of television, since the creation of modern audience measurement.

“Every Thursday evening, it was the fourth most watched program in the world,” adds Fabrice Bailly.

Audiences boosted by prime time access programs

The TF1 group's director of programs and acquisitions is just as happy with the performance of the other four French series launched by the channel this year. "

The promise

with Sofia Essaïdi made 8.3 million viewers on average.

Gloria

made 7.4 million.

I promise you

worked very, very well on young targets.

The Substitute

made 8 million.

Plan B

5, 2 million and more than 30% audience share of housewives under 50. We are really very happy. "

According to Fabrice Bailly, his very good audiences are partly enabled by "the renewal of French fiction in access prime time", a time slot boosted by reality TV Large 

families: life in XXL

and the soap opera

Here everything begins

.

"We have had the best season for the TF1 group since 2008. For TF1, it is its best season for five years on target," he explains.

"It is also thanks to the successful transformation of access."

The American series 

Dirty John

deprogrammed

The success of the new fictions is such that the actresses Julie De Bona, Audrey Fleurot, Camille Lou and Sofia Essaïdi are called internally "The Avengers of TF1". "They are currently filming all four together a fiction called

Les combatantes

", rebounds Fabrice Bailly. "It is produced by the producer of

Bazar de la charité 

and directed by the director of

 Bazar de la charité

. We started this project before we had the audiences for the last six months. But it's true that it is good. "

The only downside is the American series

Dirty John

, broadcast from June 1 on TF1, and which has not found its audience. To the point that the channel decided to deprogram it, because of unsatisfactory audiences. "It was replaced by the film

Momo

facing the France-Germany match. This series was scheduled over three evenings," explains Fabrice Bailly. "We deprogrammed her with no regrets."