M6 and Its Plan to Conquer Access Primetime
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week 36 the RTL Group intranet Newsletter M6 and its plan to conquer access primetime Interview with Bibiane Godfroid Belgium Bel RTL: Simply can't stop innovating Germany German Television Awards 2007: 26 nominations for RTL Group companies France The Rugby World Cup on RTL Hungary RTL Klub diversifies further People IP Deutschland: Dirk Bruns new Head of Marketing for N-TV week 36 the RTL Group intranet M6 and its plan to conquer access primetime Backstage interviewed Programming Director of M6 Bibiane Godfroid on the channels new programming strategy. Bibiane Godfroid, DIrectrice Générale des programmes de M6 France - 6 September 2007 When the M6 management team presented the great deal in evening programming (during pri- new schedule for the 2007-2008 season last metime and the second part of the evening) by week, Programming Director Bibiane Godfroid putting together an ambitious schedule of pro- said that this season, “every effort will be made grammes and introducing new formats and to boost M6's performance during access pri- new brands such as the lifestyle magazine metime”. With four new shows during access D&CO and the information programme 66 primetime, the top priority on the M6 program- minutes. And our efforts have paid off since ming agenda became very evident. between January and September 2007, we gai- ned almost 100,000 additional viewers — and Here's some background to the story: during M6 is the only major channel to have made the first half of 2007, M6 was the only major gains during this slot! In the new season, the channel in France that managed to increase its major work will be on access primetime. We will audience figures during primetime, despite gro- be focussing on this slot with the launch of new wing competition from digital terrestrial televi- daily programmes such as the game show sion (DTT) channels. However, this strong per- Etes-vous plus fort qu'un élève de 10 ans adap- formance during primetime did not translate ted from the successful Are you smarter than a into an increased audience share for the day as fith grader format in the US. a whole in the main commercial target group of housewives aged under 50. Access primetime Still thinking about the schedule, it's clear did not perform as expected and it did not take that your efforts have focussed on a shake- M6 long to come up with a plan and act. Today, up of the access primetime slot, but what access primetime is a source of major potential about primetime itself? Can we expect for increasing M6's audience figures. major changes here too? Primetime is still a key component of M6's Backstage talked with Bibiane Godfroid about schedule. The programmes which helped carve M6's new programming strategy. out the channel's success are back this sea- son: Capital, Zone Interdite, 66 minutes and We can see from your new schedule that Enquête exclusive in terms of news, then there are no fewer than four new program- drama series — here, M6 is increasingly inves- mes during access primetime. Is M6 under- ting in its own unique style of French drama going a revolution? series such as Les Bleus and La Lance de la Not really a revolution but certainly evolution! destiné. Finally, M6 will also be offering viewers M6 continues to progress year on year. First of the very best in foreign drama series with 15 all, the channel managed to establish itself on brand new series such as Jéricho, Vanished, the French audiovisual scene; it brought with it The Lost Room as well as the news seasons of its own tone and a degree of 'impertinence' and Prison Break, NCIS and Bones. We will also above all innovation to win over a young, fema- continue to take risks by offering new magazi- le public. To build up its audience and become ne formats on subjects in which viewers are a landmark channel for viewers aged under 50, interested with programmes such as Stop au we have continued to work hard while keeping découvert and Maison à vendre. the “M6 spirit” alive. Firstly, we have invested a 2 week 36 the RTL Group intranet Following this programming revamp, can What role does sport in general and football you tell us how successful you have been in in particular play on a channel like M6? terms of audience share? Have your audien- In terms of image and audience, televised sport ce figures confirmed your strategy has been is a key factor in M6's development: faced with the right one? heightened competition from other media and We are already very pleased with the success other television channels, M6 needs events. of our access primetime game show Etes-vous Even if sport is never profitable — we have for- plus fort qu'un élève de 10 ans which attracted ked out €50 million to broadcast Euro 2008 — 2.5 million viewers and an audience share of it will be a worthwhile expense. It is a great 10.2 per cent among the 4-and-over age group opportunity for M6 — after the World Cup, the when it was first broadcast at 20.10. Since channel owed it to itself to be in on the action then, M6's audience has grown by 800,000 as for this major event and to give it the M6 treat- compared with the average for this slot over the ment. And now we might be broadcasting a past three months, which is an increase of 47 French national team match for the first time! per cent. We consider these results very promi- sing. We are creating a real family slot here with a game that is educational as well as entertaining at a time of day when all the family can be together. What key factors made you decide against introducing a 30-minute news bulletin at 20.00? The M6 schedule may one day include a news bulletin but we want to take our time to make sure it fits in with the channel's ethos. We are still working on this project but at the moment we belie- ve our time is better spent developing our entertainment offerings and coun- ter-programming. Roland Magdane’s new quiz show started with high ratings. Next year, M6 will broadcast 15 matches of the Euro 2008. 3 week 36 the RTL Group intranet Simply can't stop innovating Bel RTL marks its 17th season with a new schedule full of surprises and innovative features for its listeners Bérénice and Mike Belgium - 5 September 2007 The tone was clear right from the start: “Since the leading ratio station serving Brussels and Wallonia was set up 16 years ago (already!), it has never stopped championing innovation in radio. Every season, in an attempt to find things that would enthuse, please and surprise its listeners, the station has come up with some- thing new”, said Bel RTL CEO Jean-Jacques Deleeuw. This year once again, humour and cheekiness will be the watchwords of programmes hosted by presenters who are very popular with liste- ners. Moreover, Bel RTL has decided to bolster its interactivity with listeners via the well-known programme Les Auditeurs ont la Parole (Listeners Have Their Say) and also in the early morning and late evening programmes 7/8 and Bel Soir. Naturally, the magazines Votre ques- tion nous intéresse, Vivre ensemble and L’Essentiel will continue to solicit the views of listeners, who can send text messages to 3323 to respond to news items and to 4343 when they have a hot piece of news to share. La Dépanneuse, with its incorrigible presenters Mike and Bérénice, will delight listeners from Mondays to Thursdays between 13.10 and 16.00, giving the programme the slight lift it needed. In it, Mike et Béré will come to liste- ners' aid, e.g. if they don't dare to ask their boss for a day off work, or if they want a reba- te on their next car, or are missing just a single item to complete a collection. This provides a foretaste of a season that alrea- dy looks very promising. 4 week 36 the RTL Group intranet German Television Awards 2007: 26 nominations for RTL Group companies The 2007 German Television Awards will be handed out at the end of September. On Tuesday, the nominations in 21 categories were announced: RTL Television was nominated nine times, Vox twice. The UFA subsidiary Teamworx received no fewer than 14 nominations. Die Flucht (Teamworx) received four nominations. Germany - 5 September 2007 Since 1999, the German Television Awards Nico Hofmann, CEO and Producer for have honoured outstanding achievements in Teamworx, says: “We are proud to have recei- television. The nominations are now in for the ved so many nominations. Once again 2007 Awards; the panel of 11 judges headed by Teamworx is top of the tree among German journalist and author Klaudia Wick selected this production companies when it comes to nomi- year's nominations for the 21 award categories nations for the German Television Awards. I am from some 1,100 programmes. particularly pleased by how well our more radi- cal programmes such as Helen, Fred und Ted RTL Television received nine nominations, have done and that our commitment to new including for Let's Dance with Hape Kerkeling talent seems to be paying off with films such as and Nazan Eckes in the Best Entertainment Rose by Alain Gsponer. Our portfolio now inclu- Programme category, RTL Aktuell in the Best des both major event programmes such as Die News Programme category and Feuertod by Flucht and new talent.