26 February 2009 week 09 1 Year M6 Access The duo Un dîner presque parfait and 100% Mag doubled M6’s audience in access prime time United States Germany Original Productions Super RTL acquires joins FremantleMedia Mamily.de Belgium France European media industry Nouvelle Star calls for fair play kicks-off on M6 COVER: Montage with Un dîner presque parfait logo 2 week 09 the RTL Group intranet 1 Year M6 Access: Number of viewers multiplied by 2 Launched on 11 February 2008, M6’s new access prime time schedule just marked its first anniversary, and there are plenty of reasons to celebrate. Ronan de Fressenel France - 26 February 2009 The access schedule has proven a winner, pai- ring Un dîner presque parfait (17:50) with 100% Mag (18:50), both of which have increased their audience figures. From 2 to 6 February 2009, the duo allowed M6 to sign its best weekly per- formance since Le Loft 2 (Big Brother) in 2002 (except football). In one year – if we compare week 7 of 2009 to week 7 of 2008 – M6 access has virtually doubled its audience with 2.7 mil- lion viewers, compared to 1.4 million the week it was launched. When the figures are transcri- bed into percentages, Un dîner presque parfait and 100% Mag last week registered a total audience share of 16.4 per cent and a 30.1 per cent share of housewives under 50: if the din- ner is “almost” perfect, the audiences are “more than” perfect. Indeed, with its Dîner presque parfait, M6 is currently the most-watched channel in France, and every week a new audience score outranks Un dîner presque parfait, the book the previous one. Wednesday 11 February, the show registered a total audience share of 22.3 per cent and a 40.9 per cent share in the target group of housewives under 50. On the same day, 100% Mag was leader among the house- wives under 50 with an audience share rising to 26.7 per cent. The three star chefs for the anniversary show, Frédéric Robert, Cyril Lignac and Jean-François Piège (from left to right) 3 week 09 the RTL Group intranet As for the advertisers, they did not have to be begged to invest in airtime, says Ronan de Fressenel to Backstage. According to the Director of Marketing and Studies for M6 Publicité, the advertisers jumped aboard once they saw the results from the first week of broadcasting Un dîner presque parfait. As for 100% Mag, they took three weeks to react. “Since then, advertising time remains very much in demand from the moment the schedu- le opens up,” he adds. Even the format of the From 0 to 10, you have the choice two programmes, along with their audience ratings, seems to charm advertisers at first rules: of the four contestants, three will have a sight. Ronan de Fressenel specifies that the chance to cook in front of three star chefs advertisers do not belong to a particular cate- (Cyril Lignac, Jean-François Piège and Frédéric gory, even though there is an abundance of Robert) and will have to submit to the verdict of food advertisers on Un dîner presque parfait. the chefs’ demanding taste buds. Only one will win the special prize of EUR 3,000. During the show, contestants must demonstra- te their generosity and creativity to impress On TV, radio and now on paper: Un dîner pres- their guests. Serving local cuisine, family reci- que parfait is also a book. The programme has pes, exotic or vegetarian menus, each will become such a societal phenomenon that it is attempt to impress the others with an array of not uncommon for friends to invite one another succulent dishes – or at least they hope they over and “play” Un dîner presque parfait, awar- will. During the diner, the guests allow the vie- ding points at the end of a meal. Riding the wers insights in their personal thoughts and wave of this success, M6 Editions has joined lives. At the end of the meal, the guests give a with Hachette Pratique to publish a book of the score. The winner gets EUR 1,000 to donate for same name. Much more than a simple collec- a good case – and the title of Best Host. tion of recipes, it addresses anyone who can reply in the affirmative to these two questions: During the first week of March, to properly cele- brate one year of Un dîner presque parfait, M6 “Is dining with friends your favourite sport?” will invite the four top contestants of the past and “Is being an exceptional host your ‘raison year to appear on a special show airing in prime d’être’?” The book picks up the show’s three time for the occasion. The anniversary show themes, namely, “ambiance”, “decoration” and will be presented by Stéphane Rotenberg, who “cuisine” and for each one, offers hints and is better known for hosting the adventure game essential advice for impressing and treating Pékin Express. For this special show, special your guests. Stéphane Rotenberg (in the middle) animates the anniversary show 4 week 09 the RTL Group intranet 100% Mag and Estelle Denis Jérôme Bureau, director of news and information programming at M6, describes 100% Mag as a new kind of daily informa- tion show: it offers an alternate way to decipher today’s world and sheds new light on the phenomena and evolutions affecting our society. 100% Mag, airing live weekday evenings at 18:50, is pre- sented by Estelle Denis. Estelle has been a sports journalist for more than 10 years. A true football fan, she has been present- ing 100% Foot on M6 every Sunday at midnight since 2005. Estelle Denis, presenter of 100% Mag A tremendous success with critics as well as audiences In June 2008 M6 won a prize atfor the “Best Entertainment Programme” for Un dîner presque parfait 10th edition of the CB News Awards. The tasty desserts of Un dîner presque parfait 5 week 09 the RTL Group intranet Joining forces with Original Productions FremantleMedia acquired a 75 per cent stake in Original Productions, the US-based creator of hit TV shows such as Ice Road Truckers, Deadliest Catch, Monster Garage and Ax Men. Ice Road Truckers United Kingdom - 20 February 2009 The deal will allow Original Productions to Since its inception in 1999, Beers’ Original expand its growing slate of male-oriented fac- Productions has been the recipient of nume- tual programming and will strengthen rous awards and accolades, including FremantleMedia’s position in the exciting US 14 Emmy nominations from the US Academy of cable network market. Original Productions’ Television Arts and Sciences. In addition, CEO, Thom Beers and President, Philip Segal Original Productions’ everyday hero program- will continue to lead the company and the part- ming has brought millions of new viewers to a nership will not affect either company’s existing range of US Networks including Discovery, broadcaster relationships. History, NBC, National Geographic, Spike, TruTV and TLC. Tony Cohen, CEO of FremantleMedia said: “We are very excited to be working with Thom and “FremantleMedia’s success has been built on his talented team. Original Productions have our commitment to attracting the very best created outstanding shows which have been talent, and our partnership with Original enormously popular with audiences around the Productions is a major addition to our global world. We look forward to helping further build activities. Looking ahead, we will continue to the Original Productions brand.” invest in talent as well as companies to support our expansion strategy,” said Christian Original Productions will become part of Schneider-Sickert, Director of Operations and FremantleMedia’s unique global network of Strategy, FremantleMedia. production, distribution and licensing compa- nies. The company already has a distribution Recent global investments include a 19.9 per relationship with FremantleMedia Enterprises, cent stake in Australian production company which has sold several programmes to more Beyond International as well as a range of deals than 50 broadcasters worldwide. under its Talent Fund initiative. These include partnerships with Bea Ballard’s 10 Star “I’m thrilled to be partnering creatively with Entertainment, Trevor Eve’s Projector and Rob FremantleMedia. We’ve already established a Brydon’s Arbie in the UK and Ashton Kutcher’s very strong relationship with the Katalyst in the US. FremantleMedia Enterprises team who have far exceeded our expectations in terms of distribu- tion,” said Thom Beers, CEO and Executive Producer of Original Productions. “Now, the Original Productions brand will reach an even wider audience under the incredibly successful FremantleMedia umbrella.” 6 week 09 the RTL Group intranet European media business calls for fair play On 24 February, representatives of the European media business called on the European Commission to resist pressure from Member States to water down proposals that seek to establish clear fundamental guidelines on state aid to publicly-funded broadcasters. Tobias Schmid Belgium - 24 February 2009 The 2001 Broadcasting Communication that Given the increasing criticism from national cul- sets out the principles to be followed by the tural ministries on the text, the coalition of the Commission in the application of Articles 87 and European media businesses urges 86(2) of the EC Treaty to State funding of public Commissioner Kroes and her colleagues to sector broadcasting is currently being revised by resist this growing pressure. In the EU 27, state the Commission’s DG Competition and a propo- aid to broadcasting is estimated as being worth sal for a new text, that will focus on public sec- at least EUR 22 billion per year.