Father Fouras has packed his bags, the tigers have returned to dry land and the clepsydra are no longer spinning: the 32nd season of
Fort Boyard
has been over for three weeks now.
Alexia Laroche-Joubert, the producer of the show, debriefs the scores and news of this edition for
20 Minutes
.
“Frankly, everything is fine!
»Alexia Laroche-Joubert smiles as she takes stock of
Fort Boyard's
32nd season
.
France 2's summer game ended at the end of August after eleven episodes during which Sébastien Chabal, Élodie Gossuin and Nabilla Benattia parade in particular.
However, the start of this edition did not draw as many crowds as usual.
2.12 million people watched the first episode, 2.1 million the following week.
“We had never started so early and we had competition that did not exist before,” explains the producer.
The first evening,
Fort Boyard
faced the launch of
Camille and Images
. “They [TF1] attacked us all summer and they started with Camille Combal's new program,” comments Alexia Laroche-Joubert. The following Saturday, Passe-Partout had to compete with the round of 16 of Euro 2021 and its 4.4 million fans on M6. Once this period of turbulence passed, the show has found color. "We will be very clear: there is no decrease", summarizes the producer who is based on a whole bunch of figures, ranging from the score of women responsible for purchases to market shares on the different age groups. “You can't compare a program that starts on July 11 [last year] and a program that starts on June 19 [this year], it's factual,” she says. In terms of numbers,
Fort Boyard
set a replay record: 656,000 additional viewers watched the July 31 episode.
The final broke records: best score since 2017 for 15-24 year olds and since 2014 for 25-49 year olds.
Novelty and indestructible
While France 2 and ALP, which produces the program, have not yet taken stock of this season, Alexia Laroche-Joubert believes that improvements will have to be made during the next season.
If she loved working with Jean-Marc Généreux, the newcomer disguised as a Quebec trapper, the producer believes that "the cell was not up to the character" and should therefore work on some adjustments.
As always, new cells will emerge while others will not come back for another year.
Two areas of reflection are also underway: "handing over sporting self-improvement events", indicates the producer, as well as "taking up iconic events and reworking them up to date".
In general, the show now very cartoony in mind should take a little more time in the future.
“I think we have to slow down a little bit.
The pace of assembly, we are a bit on a Ferrari what.
If we could go down to a Mercedes, that would be good, ”smiles Alexia Laroche-Joubert.
A call to politicians about tigers
Last year, the show was placed under fire from critics at the time of Hugo Clément's participation. The committed journalist then campaigned for "a
Fort Boyard
without animals as quickly as possible" and had refused to take part in trials involving animals. At the time, the production explained that the program would be without a tiger when the two felines retire.
“Before thinking about removing them, we have to think about what will become of them,” reports Alexia Laroche-Joubert.
Maintaining a tiger costs a lot of money.
I want there to be a political mobilization, moralizing but which will be there when it will be necessary to pay for their food, their veto costs?
These are points on which I must discuss with our partners and we will not make any decision until we have answered that.
I also call on politicians to respond, ”she emphasizes.
Several projects in development
Another adventure show, another channel and another replay record. A few weeks ago, the launch of
Koh-Lanta: The Legend
drew 5.6 million people to their posts. Thanks to the replay, the first episode gained 1.2 million viewers, a record for a stream program. Figures that Alexia Laroche-Joubert is delighted with, who has however a little disappointment: "what I regret a little, and I did not tell TF1, is that if I had known that it was the Tuesday, I would probably have shortened the episodes a little, ”she confides.
In addition to the next seasons of
Fort Boyard
and
Koh-Lanta
, the production company is working on an expansion of its field of action and is in the process of launching ALP Fictions.
“We had two signings in development this week,” specifies Alexia Laroche-Joubert, happy to take on new challenges.
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