The figure almost went unnoticed. Last June, continuous news channels represented a total of 9% of the television audience, according to figures from Médiamétrie. A vertiginous progression. Five years earlier, during the same period, BFMTV, LCI, CNews and Franceinfo barely exceeded 4%…
Of course, between the riots linked to the death of young Nahel, the coup in Russia by Wagner troops against Putin or the knife attack in Annecy, the news has been particularly promising. Nevertheless. In an audiovisual sector in decline, the news segment is one of the few to progress. Over the first six months of the year, BFMTV, LCI, Franceinfo and CNews now have more than 8% of the audience.
Proof that small news channels have grown… but not all at the same speed. Over the years, BFMTV, owned by the Altice group, has consolidated its leading position in the segment thanks to its status as a “generalist news and decryption channel”, according to its CEO, Marc-Olivier Fogiel (3.4% of the hearing in June). CNews, a subsidiary of Vivendi which was struggling, has propelled itself to the second step of the podium since it took the editorial turn of opinion (2.4%). As for LCI, which belongs to the Bouygues group, after having groped for a long time, here it is sparking by scrutinizing international news and more particularly the war in Ukraine (2.4%). To the point of matching with CNews. Rest Franceinfo. Launched seven years ago, the continuous public service news channel, on channel 27, still does not take off (0.8%).
Will the coming season be that of the comeback? This is the whole point of the overhaul that France Télévisions will put in place. “At its beginnings, recalls the group’s information director, Alexandre Kara, the channel was deliberately thought of as the radio, with which we collaborate: an antenna where you come to get information but where you don’t stay not for a long time. Today Franceinfo needs to have a better defined identity, around very readable and more embodied meetings. Viewers need to know what they come to see on this channel,” said the leader.
Largely restructured, the grid will welcome a new morning worker, Jean-Baptiste Marteau, who succeeds Samuel Étienne. Between 10 a.m. and noon, instead of the “Fil Info”, a slice of welcoming information, which is intended to be warmer, will be deployed, with the intervention of columnists. It is in this context that Philippe Vandel, freshly recruited, will conduct an interview on culture and the media at 11:40 a.m., Monday to Thursday. “The grid will also be structured around three major news bulletins, which will be exhaustive and will be able to accommodate guests,” explains Alexandre Kara. The 12/13 Info will be presented by Émilie Tran Nguyen, defector from France 3. Sonia Chironi inherits the 19/20 Info and finally Alexandra Uzan will be at the helm of the 23 hours Info.
After a segment, between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., devoted to hot news, Patricia Loison and Myriam Bounafaa will take over from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. On the program, a new interactive meeting around the news of the day. “We have set up a tool with a Belgian start-up, which will allow us to have a direct dialogue with our audience and real-time moderation. We feel that there is a real need for expression on the part of the French.
Another novelty, “PlanèteInfo”, a program on the climate and the environment presented by Lucie Chaumette, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. “This daily format, on a major subject, will not be anxiety-provoking, militant or lesson-providing” promises the leader. The channel has also been reinforced at weekends by recruiting Matthieu Belliard to present the 5 to 7 p.m. slot on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
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Worked in a less radio and more television way, the Franceinfo channel, whose specificities will be further reinforced from January, hopes to recruit and above all keep viewers longer. Every day, it is watched by 5.1 million French people, compared to 12 million for the leader BFMTV. And they stay there on average for less than 17 minutes where LCI manages to capture their attention for more than 40 minutes daily. “We intend to increase the audience this year,” says Alexandre Kara.
“We have the will to be neither sensationalist, nor monothematic, nor biased, he continues. This is not a criticism of our competitors. Everyone is in their role. Ours is to be pluralistic. On Franceinfo, you will have the whole of the world and not a part. Our project is to make a channel that talks about everything, with everyone.