- This summer, the channels have not been shy about testing new concepts on access or prime time.
- If viewers often regret the eternal reruns of a great season, they didn’t follow the new features that were offered to them, which, among other things, led to the deprogramming of Treasure Road on M6 or the series. Survivors of the Arianna about France 2.
- 20 minutes asked Virginie Spice, a semiologist and television analyst, to give us some clues to help us understand this contradiction.
We have often criticized TF1, M6 or France Télévisions: in the summer What repetitions. However, if the summer period was favorable enough for new seasons of Fort Boyard, The Voice of the Child, or The Traitors, then real new television releases offering a new concept were largely rejected by the public. There are plenty of examples.
On July 3, M6 aired a new prime time dating show. “Love at first sight on the other side of the world” after five singles looking for a soul mate and opening guest houses abroad. Defeated by replay Commissioner Magellan on C8 since its launch, the M6 has been content with the 5th place among the best viewers of the evening with 947,000 viewers, or 5.2% of the audience share (PDA). From the 3rd episode, the show left the channel grid and was replaced by 6play…
Missed appointments
The same missed meeting with the public as part of “La Route des Coffers” at 18:35 on the M6, which started on July 10th. This traveling summer game, close to treasure hunting, combined quizzes, skill games and puzzles, the presentation of which was attended by Stefan Rotenberg. Three days later, the channel recorded its lowest prime-time access viewership in ten years at 313,000… The deprogramming was announced in mid-July, followed by Tous en Kitchen on August 7th.
France 2 also did not stand aside. Row Survivors of the Arianna aired on July 12 and was canceled on July 21. The following week, episode 2 recorded only 6.6% pda, which convinced the channel to switch the series to the second part of the evening. Not forgetting “My Mom, My Dad, Love and Me,” TF1’s primetime dating show, Thursday, August 17, was surpassed by rebroadcast commissioner Magellan on France 3, “Fort Boyard” on France 2 and “Trains like no other” on France 5… Poor performance for a front page rather accustomed to being at the top of the podium.
Spectator’s paradox
In short, the public says that they are tired of the eternal summer reruns, but not at the training camp for new shows. Why is this a contradiction? “It’s a bit of a viewer paradox. As a rule, they also want more cultural programs, but do not watch them,” emphasizes Virginie Spice, a semiologist and television analyst. She recalls that in general summer is a difficult period from the point of view of the audience and that “mounting a new program is all the more difficult because the viewer is becoming more and more unstable.” This is once again evidenced by the failure of the “Perfect Photo”, the 7th audience of the evening, when it was launched on August 23 on M6, beaten, in particular, by W9 and Arte.
It is also more difficult to retain viewers on holidays. “When Tous en Kitchen replaced La Route des Coffers, it worked because it’s a program to peck at. And if we see one thing and not the other, it doesn’t matter,” the semiologist analyzes. The summer season will also be a test period for new programs. If this summer, obviously, the test is unlikely to be final, she recalls that tomorrow belongs to usAccess-Prime Time launched on July 17, 2017 and is currently in its seventh season.
The success of the audience of famous brands
For Virginie Spice, “TV remains a family tool, so the kids should also be able to join in.” “We are not going to test a program that the whole family might not like,” she clarifies. This could explain the success of well-established brands such as Camping Paradise, “Fort Boyard” or “Voice Children”. This summer, TF1 television has gathered a very good audience. : 3.4 million viewers on average on D+7, i.e. 21% of viewers are 4 years and older.
“We have triple reason to celebrate,” says Mathieu Grelieu, Director of Programs and Development at ITV Studios France. Already for entertainment this summer the best performance. Then the results are the same as the results of the previous season, when for the first time we were broadcast at a different time of the year, that is, in the summer, and not at school, and on a different day, namely Tuesday instead of Friday or Saturday, as was traditional. So the habits of our viewers have changed and we are very happy that they have followed us, that The Voice Kids has become something of a big family gathering on Tuesday night.” He concludes: “This proves the reliability and sustainability of this program. »